The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Jonathon Naylor Editor Churchill NDP candidate Niki Ashton appeared open to a coalition government after the divisive issue made its inevitable entry into the regional campaign Tuesday. Asked for her thoughts on a coalition, the incumbent MP said the matter has been blown "out of proportion" but did not close the door on the concept. "We're keen to work with all parties," Ashton told the Flin Flon and District Chamber of Commerce, referring to her party while avoiding the term "coalition." In terms of past cooperation, she said the NDP has worked with the Conservatives on EI legislation and with the Liberals on other initiatives. Ashton said her party tried to work with the Tories again on their last budget, putting forth four proposals she termed "not outlandish." But the NDP was not satisfied with the budget and joined the Liberals and Bloc Quebecois in defeating the government on the grounds that it was in contempt of parliament. Ignatieff Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff recently announced he would not support another attempted coalition of opposition parties should the May 2 election return a Conservative minority. NDP Leader Jack Layton, however, has issued no such declaration. The Liberals and NDP tried to form a coalition in late 2008, but the Grits backed out after Prime Minister Stephen Harper prorogued parliament for several weeks. The coalition had the support of the separatist Bloc Quebecois, which agreed not to defeat the Liberal-NDP government for at least 18 months. A recent Ipsos Reid poll suggests 48 per cent of Canadians support the idea of opposition parties joining together to form government, compared to 52 per cent who are opposed. Many coalition opponents are particularly leery of any reliance on the Bloc, whose goal is to separate Quebec from Canada. Others feel that the prime minister must always be chosen by the voters. Supporters argue that coalition governments are better representative of the electorate's will, especially since parties can form governments with far less than half of the popular vote.
