Is a Cohesive Energy Vision for Canada Possible in the Minority Government Era?
June 2010 marked the sixth consecutive year of minority government rule in Canada, the second longest run of consecutive minority governments in Canadian history (second only to an nine year stretch in the 1920s). While the past six years have produced an ample serving of political drama, the legislative and policy output during this period, from an electricity sector perspective, has been decidedly mixed. While the early years of the current minority era were defined by a weak Liberal minority, scrambling under constant threat of defeat in the Commons, recent years have been defined by the increasing dominance of the Harper Conservatives. The opposition parties, with lukewarm public support, see little prospect of replacing the Conservatives, and have employed various methods to ensure the government survives confidence votes. However, not far from the spotlight of mandatory confidence votes on Budget legislation in the House of Commons, in the Committee meetings rooms and, until rece
