RallyForCanada.ca, a site rallying those opposed to the coalition agreement entered into by the opposition parties, is the brain child of prolific blogger Stephen Taylor, a Conservative mouthpiece who works for the (Preston) Manning Centre for Building Democracy.

I posted the following on Mr. Taylor's site in response to his announcement of the RallyForCanada.ca site:

Stephen - do you only support "democracy" when it threatens the party's position in parliament?

I don't recall you speaking up at all when Stephen Harper authorized and entered into secret negotiations with David Emerson to overturn the votes of Vancouver-Kingsway residents. Emerson was in talks with Harper's representative less than 24 hours after the ballots were counted.

And did you moan for democracy when Stephen Harper broke his own law in calling for an election, purely for partisan political advantage, more than a year in advance of what his own law set out as the lawful fixed election date? No, I don't believe you did.

Apparently being a "fellow" at the Manning Centre for Building Democracy has nothing at all to do with actually building, or respecting, democracy. Michael Watkins, December 2, 2008

I'm a former Progressive Conservative and former Conservative Party member who left the party as a result of the attack on democracy Stephen Harper made right here in my riding of Vancouver Kingsway. Despite starting out well with a call for Emerson to run in a by-election (which of course would never happen), Taylor goes on to make the same sort of mealy mouth ends justify the means argument most Conservatives uttered in response to l'affair Emerson. Not one of them stood up for democracy. Most were afraid to utter a word lest Stephen Harper or his goons lash out. They still are, albeit Harper's vaunted grip on the party may be cracking ever so slightly.

Sadly I've not run into very many Conservatives who take democracy as a principle seriously. You've got to fight for democracy even when it hurts your team, if the principle is to mean anything.

Perhaps they don't teach that lesson at the (Preston) Manning Centre for Building Democracy.

At the outset let me state that I do not agree with the premise the Conservative Party supporters are promoting - that a coalition government is somehow undemocratic. In our parliamentary system a coalition government is entirely democratic.

Against

• Rally for Canada, provides a listing of rallies not in favour of the coalition
• National Citizens Coalition, Stephen Harper's old employer
• Petition on-line calling for an election

For

• Make Parliament Work, provides a listing of rallies in favour of the coalition; also in French: Pour un parlement qui marche.
• Canadians for a Progressive Coalition, contains an on-line petition (no email address required) and other resources; Candles for a Coalition, Thursday Dec/ 4.
• Smart Vote 2008, provides an on-line letter writing utility in support of the coalition
• Canadian Labour Congress provides its own basis for support of the proposed coalition
• Defend Our Democracy makes the point that Green plus Bloc plus NDP plus Liberal votes equals Canada's Majority. Provides a petition as well as a very useful letter writing tool.
• 62% Majority You are part of the 62% majority. Be part of the change.

We do not go to the polls to elect a Prime Minister or even a government, a fact lost on most voters. We elect members of parliament to represent us and it is these members who are then called upon to form a government, usually based on which party has the largest standing in the House.

When one party has a majority of the seats, the nature of the government is a simple outcome. When, as has been the case for the past three elections, no party enjoys a majority of seats, then the Governor General will request one party to form the government if they have a sufficient plurality of seats to provide stability in government. Thus a Martin, and two Harper, minority governments were formed.

If no one party can provide a sufficient plurality of seats, the Governor General will ask for or entertain proposals from a coalition of parties who may wish to form a stable government. If no coalition can be formed, the Governor General has no option but to call another election. The key determining factor for the Governor General should always be stability in government.

Mr. Harper has shown by his actions that his government is unable to obtain and hold the confidence of the majority of the House of Commons, thus putting the government in an unstable position with no expectation that this situation will change. It is therefore a logical and completely democratic decision to approve the coalition government proposal put forth by the opposition parties who, it must be repeated, occupy the majority of seats in the House of Commons.

The Conservatives have little recourse. Stephen Harper has played his hand and badly so. They will try to rally public opinion with the faint hope that public expression can hamper the Governor General from accepting a coalition government. We'll see a media blitz soon enough, in addition to rallies planned for across the country.

Those advocating for a coalition government have the entirety of parliamentary history on their side, and the numbers in the House of Commons to make a coalition work.

The Governor General has only three choices. Call a new election - completely unacceptable given the proposal which has been made to form a coalition government. Proroguing parliament - cancelling this session - mere weeks after it started and with not a single bit of legislation passed is likewise not an option. With an election having just been concluded the Governor General has little option but to seriously entertain the coalition proposal.

Rallies supporting the coalition are also planned in the lead up to what will likely be a vote of non confidence in the government next week.

Ezra Levant

Today's moron award goes to Ezra Levant, who claimed during a CTV panel discussion with Garth Turner and Jeff Atkinson that the stock market this morning voted on the prospects of a coalition government, returning the largest net drop in the Canadian equity market ever.

I wondered how long it would take for the Conservative Party to trot someone out to pass on this canard, and I must say I'm not surprised it was Levant - someone no one in the Conservative party listens to any more - was the moron du jour.

The following chart illustrates the U.S. markets falling in unison with the Toronto index. You can bet that U.S. markets fell on renewed concerns over the economy, as did the Toronto 300 index. Oil and gold - both prices set internationally - were down precipitously and this always has an outsized effect on the Canadian market.

Ninety nine of one hundred U.S. investors don't even know we have a government let alone one about to fall.

Nice try Ezra.