Thursday, July 08, 2004

Minority Governing for Dummies Canadian Political Parties:

1. Think of the one single reason why voters who vote against your party are likely to vote against your party. Then make a pledge to address that issue, and stick to that pledge for at least one year. For example, the Liberals could commit to massive transparency, the Conservatives could commit to not actively pursuing any policy that would limit existing rights, the Bloc could commit to not actively pursuing separatism, and the NDP could commit to not actively pursuing any policy that would put Canada into deficit.

2. Look at all the policies in your platform, find the policy that is furthest away from anything any of the other parties have in their platforms, and put it on hold for a period of one year.

3. Compare the platforms of all four parties, and find the one policy on which you agree the most closely, in principle if not in quantitative details. Pursue that policy with a mind to finding a happy medium rather than stubbornly getting your way.

4. Repeat step 3 as needed.

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