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“I am a Canadian, free to speak without fear, free to worship in my own way, free to stand for what I think right, free to oppose what I believe wrong, or free to choose those who shall govern my country. This heritage of freedom I pledge to uphold for myself and all mankind.” ~~ John G. Diefenbaker

James Moore: Imagine if this fragile Parliament shrinks down to a 1-seat margin (CTV)


Andy Rooney once said that “numbers are the most certain things we have.” That can absolutely be true, and the one certainty about the numbers of the current Parliament is the baked-in uncertainty given the events of the past week.

Some numbers to consider:

  • On April 28, 19,811,520 Canadians who could vote chose to exercise their privilege to vote. There were 1,959 candidates to choose from across Canada’s electoral landscape. Of the 1,959 candidates, 343 were chosen to sit in the Parliament of Canada. Of the 343, 169 were Liberals, 144 Conservatives, 22 Bloc Québécois, 7 New Democrats and 1 Green.

  • Of the 343 MPs elected, you deduct 1 MP who becomes the Speaker of the House, meaning that 172 is the magic number to command a majority government – albeit a shaky one. So, when the voters of the Nova Scotia riding of Acadie-Annapolis elected Conservative candidate Chris d’Entremont (23,024 votes) over Liberal candidate Ronnie LeBlanc (22,491 votes), and that Conservative MP flipped to become a 170th Liberal MP 190 days after being elected, the ripple effects are large.

  • Then, when another Conservative MP (Matt Jeneroux of Edmonton Riverbend) signals that he’s leaving Parliament, things get instantly ultra shaky. The numbers today with Jeneroux in Parliament: 143 + 22 + 7 + 1 = 173 combined opposition votes versus 170 Liberals. He leaves and we’re at 172-170, and that is not only a parliamentary knife’s edge, but also extraordinary leverage for opportunistic political entrepreneurs.

As the parliamentary vote margin shrinks down to 2 votes or a 1 vote margin, consider the power that one or two or a few members of Parliament could wield to extraordinary advantage ...

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