The last time I checked Canada was a democracy – at least the people who live here think it is. Stephen Harper has for a while now condemned coalitions arguing he wants his majority. Some have bought into his propaganda that complete control is what he needs. Our media seems to think this isn’t so bad either. He has never been asked why coalitions are so bad. He includes this message in all his talking points. Ironically, just days before the election was called, Jim Flaherty (our Finance Minister) mention he tried to add NDP elements into the budget so that Jack Layton would join his party and vote for the budget - sounds like a coalition to me. In fact, to pass the previous four budgets the Conservatives had to form a coalition to get them passed in Parliament – which they did. It's puzzling why Harper is not asked why he added those NDP considerations in the budget by anyone in the media, if he thinks coalitions are so bad.
Coalitions seem to work just fine in every other democracy in the world. So what makes us so different? Well, education would be the first thing. Canadians often site that Americans have no clue as to what’s going on outside their country. There is definitely some truth to that however, Canadians are just as ignorant when it comes to our country and how we relate to the rest of the word. It doesn’t help to have Harper repeating – “coalition, bad, coalition, bad” every night on the news – with no challenges from the media nor opposition parties. The fact is Canada is one of the least democratic countries of all democracies in the world. What makes us one of the least democratic countries is that we have been brainwashed into thinking cooperation, consensus or “coalitions” are bad. If you believe in the fundamental principles of democracy, then building consensus between differences in ideology within a country is what we should all strive towards.
It is important to remember that our system of choosing elected officials is badly outdated too. We are using the first past the post system that has been proven over and over to be undemocratic. Our governments, particularly the Conservatives and Liberals, don’t want our system to change because they benefit from it staying the same. One simple question should be asked to all party leaders – Do you think we can improve our democracy by making changes to how we vote? Wouldn't it be nice to know who is willing to do it takes to inprove on what we have? Currently, it can only take 36 – 40% of the popular vote in Canada to hold a majority. That means the other 60% of the population are not considered. One could objectively look at this as a weakness in our democracy. Our media has decided (on behalf of Canadians) to allow the spreading of this “coalition bad” myth through their various sources of media, never challenging. Every time you hear Harper speak ill of coalitions what he is really saying is, I don’t care about anyone who doesn’t share my beliefs and if I get my majority, I will show you how much I don’t care by doing whatever I want, whenever I want, no matter what you think. Is this the Canada you want? Is this the democracy you want? 
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