PostMedia's Montreal flagship, The Gazette, seems to have had its fill of Harper's rank hypocrisy on coalition governments. In fact, the paper is calling Harper out:
Harper maintains that the only legitimate governing party is the one that wins the most seats. Again, however, there are numerous examples to the contrary. In Israel, for instance, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s party did not win the most seats last election, but formed the government in coalition with a third party. Does Harper then mean the Israeli government is illegitimate? The first foreign leader of a country Harper received after becoming prime minister was Australia’s John Howard, a role model for Harper and his Tory strategists, who a few years previously had formed a government in the same way. There was no quibbling from Harper at the time about Howard’s legitimacy; on the contrary, he was accorded the signal honour of addressing the Commons.
...a coalition of the Liberals and the NDP, if they had more seats and votes between them than the Conservatives, would not only be legitimate, but also more representative of the Canadian electorate, especially if between them they had a majority of the popular vote. ...Harper’s bogeyman is more like a straw man. Voters deserve more substance in the campaign discourse. Enough with the coalition fearmongering; let’s instead have a clear and honest presentation of what the parties have to offer.
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