What is a coalition government?
Answer
A government formed by two or more political parties that share Cabinet seats and govern together, rare in modern Canadian federal practice but common in many other Westminster democracies.
Explanation
A coalition government is a government formed by two or more political parties that share Cabinet seats and govern together. Coalition governments are common in many parliamentary democracies (particularly in Continental Europe under proportional representation systems) but are extremely rare in modern Canadian federal practice. Canadian voters and politicians have historically preferred minority governments operating through informal cooperation or confidence-and-supply agreements over formal coalitions.
The most prominent Canadian coalition government was the Union government of Sir Robert Borden (October 12, 1917 to July 10, 1920). The Union government formed during the First World War after Borden invited conscription-supporting Liberal MPs to join his Conservative government to manage the war effort. The Union government won the December 17, 1917 federal election decisively. Most Conservative-Liberal Union MPs rejoined their original parties after the war ended.
The most prominent recent Canadian coalition proposal was the 2008 to 2009 federal coalition agreement signed on December 1, 2008 between Liberal leader Stéphane Dion, NDP leader Jack Layton, and Bloc Québécois leader Gilles Duceppe (with the Bloc supporting the coalition on confidence votes from outside Cabinet). The coalition would have replaced the Conservative minority government of Stephen Harper after a non-confidence vote scheduled for December 8, 2008. Prime Minister Harper requested and received a prorogation from Governor General Michaëlle Jean on December 4, 2008, suspending Parliament until late January 2009 and giving the Conservatives time to undermine coalition support. The coalition was abandoned.
Provincial coalition governments have been occasional. The most recent was the 2017 to 2020 BC Green-NDP confidence-and-supply agreement, in which the BC Greens (3 MLAs) supported the BC NDP minority government (41 MLAs) of John Horgan in exchange for federal policy commitments. The BC Greens did not join Cabinet. The agreement ended after the September 2020 BC election produced an NDP majority. Other historical Canadian provincial coalitions include the wartime Liberal-Progressive coalitions in Manitoba and Saskatchewan (1940s) and brief coalitions in the Yukon. The 2022 to 2024 federal Liberal-NDP Supply and Confidence Agreement was a confidence-and-supply arrangement, not a coalition: the NDP supported the Liberals on confidence votes but did not have Cabinet seats.
Why this matters for your test
Coalition governments are rare in Canadian federal practice but common in other Westminster systems. Recognising the 1917-1920 Union government and the 2008 attempted coalition gives candidates structured anchors.
Source: Library of Parliament; Department of Justice Canada
