117-408: McGuinty is a surname of Irish origin. Notable people with the surname include: Dalton McGuinty (born 1955), Canadian politician Dalton McGuinty Sr. (1926-1990), Canadian politician David McGuinty (born 1960), Canadian lawyer and politician See also [ edit ] McGinty [REDACTED] Surname list This page lists people with
234-409: A consensus government . During the history of federal Canadian politics, there have been fifteen minority governments, in fourteen separate minority parliaments. Federal minority governments typically last less than two years. Exceptions to this include the 26th , 27th , 39th and 40th Canadian parliaments, which all lasted for longer than two years. The 14th Canadian Parliament functioned as
351-519: A hung parliament : the 1988 , 2022 and 2024 elections. In both instances, minority governments were formed following the elections, with no formal coalition or confidence-and-supply agreement being put in place to guarantee stability. In fact, the French Constitution provides a large number of institutional tools to ensure political stability at the detriment of parliamentary sovereignty, constitutional tools that become critical when
468-430: A majority government because, if they can unite, opposing parliamentary members have sufficient numbers to vote against legislation, or even bring down the government with a vote of no confidence . If, however, the minority government forms supporting partnerships with some parliamentary parties, it can be as stable as majority governments. To deal with situations in parliamentary systems where no clear majority to form
585-543: A ban on partisan government advertising. On May 18, 2004, Provincial Finance Minister Greg Sorbara released the McGuinty government's first budget, the first year of a four-year plan focused on tackling four deficits the Liberals claim the previous Tories left behind: the "health deficit", the "education deficit", the "infrastructure deficit" and the "fiscal deficit". This budget was focused on health care. At its core
702-539: A campaign to narrow the so-called "$ 23 billion gap" between what Ontario contributes to the federal government and what is returned to Ontario in services. This came as a sharp turn after more than a year of cooperating with the federal government. McGuinty said special deals made by the federal government with other provinces ( Newfoundland and Labrador and Nova Scotia ) compromised the nature of equalization . He noted that immigrants in Ontario receive $ 800 in support from
819-405: A few days later, since with as many votes in his favour as against him, he does not enjoy the confidence of Parliament. The defeat must have been all the more difficult to swallow as two Socialist MEPs had left before the vote in order not to miss their train to Liège . On the other hand, the last three attempts were successful. Firstly in 1958 a minority government received, for the first time,
936-659: A formal coalition but operate under a loose agreement instead. Occasionally, a confidence and supply agreement may be formed. This is a more formal pact that still falls short of creating a coalition government. In the Canadian province of Ontario , the Liberal Party formed a minority government from 1985 to 1987 on the basis of a formal accord with the New Democratic Party (NDP): the NDP agreed to support
1053-435: A four-year plan to tackle the deficit, funding for 1,000 new teachers, a transfer of two cents of the existing gas tax to municipalities to help fund transit, and a three per cent increase to those on social assistance, the first increase in ten years. Soon after the federal election, McGuinty attended a First Ministers' Meeting on health-care reform that resulted in a new agreement for a national health accord. This Accord saw
1170-540: A general election. The cabinet continues to serve as demissionary . A demissionary cabinet is not a minority government but a form of caretaker government , enjoying only limited powers until the new Parliament assembles. If the Monarch does not dissolve Parliament, the remaining cabinet continues as a minority cabinet, in full possession of its powers. It can finish any legislation already before underpreparation, if Parliament passes it by majority vote; this necessitates
1287-431: A government exists, two or more parties may establish a formal coalition government, commanding a clear majority of the parliamentary members. A party might also enter into less formal alliances or agreements with other parties or individual members to allow the minority government to stay in office. A common situation is a governance with "jumping majorities", where the cabinet stays as long as it can negotiate support from
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#17327808175981404-512: A government has lost its majority mid-term. Minority governments have also existed at the state level, sometimes for substantial periods. The viability of minority government varies between states, as some require an absolute majority vote by parliament for a government to be invested, while others require only a simple majority or plurality. Between 1949 and December 2017, there were 31 periods of minority government in Germany, including four at
1521-751: A government majority. The Catholic Party and the Belgian Workers' Party each won approximately 40 percent of the seats so they could not govern alone. However, within the Catholic Party, there remains serious reluctance to collaborate with the Socialists. It must be said that strong tensions between the two camps, particularly over the Flemishisation of the Ghent University and the management of external affairs, had led to
1638-462: A government to be formed. Under such a government, legislation can only be passed with the support or consent of enough other members of the legislature to provide a majority, encouraging multi-partisanship. In bicameral legislatures , the term relates to the situation in the chamber whose confidence is considered most crucial to the continuance in office of the government (generally, the lower house ). A minority government tends to be less stable than
1755-504: A hung parliament in which the centrist presidential coalition was the largest bloc but 38 short of an overall majority. The Borne cabinet survived to 31ss motions of no confidence and Prime Minister Borne triggered constitutional article 49.3 23 times, mostly to pass the 2023 Government and Social Security Budgets but also to pass its pension system reform in March 2023. Nonetheless, the government lost several parliamentary votes, an oddity under
1872-668: A large majority, the social-Christian and liberal political families negotiated with the community parties. A partial agreement is reached in Steenokkerzeel. For the Walloon Rally as long as there is no agreement on everything, there is no agreement on anything. Nevertheless, it decides to grant its benevolent abstentions to the Christian Liberal coalition so that a government can be formed quickly. With 100 votes in favour, 63 against and, above all, 47 abstentions,
1989-502: A major issue in the early days of the 2004 federal election , called a week after the Ontario budget. Many believe that the controversy hampered Liberal Prime Minister Paul Martin 's bid for re-election . Also controversial was the elimination of coverage for health services not covered by the Canada Health Act including eye examinations and physical therapy. Other elements of the McGuinty government's first budget were
2106-435: A majority (1957, 1963, 1979, and 2006), the incumbent governments resigned rather than attempt to stay in power. Whatever party forms the government must either form a coalition with one or more other parties, or they must win some form of support from the other parties or independents so as to avoid no-confidence motions. Because of no-confidence motions, minority governments are frequently short-lived or fall before their term
2223-403: A majority in the parliament, even though that majority may be differently formed from issue to issue or bill to bill. On occasion, the legislature may permit a minority cabinet to continue in office despite having been defeated on a given vote, and a minority government might even bring on a confidence vote and threaten to resign should the legislature vote against it. An alternative arrangement
2340-405: A majority. Labor won the two-party preferred vote by 0.24%. Six crossbenchers, consisting of four independents, one Greens MP, and one WA Nationals MP, held the balance of power. Ultimately, four crossbenchers gave confidence and supply to Labor, allowing them to form an extremely narrow minority government. This government stood until the 2013 election . After the 2016 federal election ,
2457-579: A minority government either throughout its term or just a part of its term, usually the latter. A list of minority cabinets: Since the joint establishment of the Fifth Republic and of the two-round system for parliamentary elections in 1958, France has known only a few minority governments: indeed, the majoritarian electoral system usually produces seizable parliamentary majorities on which governments can rely, but there are some exceptions. Since 1958, only 3 out of 16 legislative elections resulted in
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#17327808175982574-500: A minority government for half of its duration, owing to floor-crossings and by-elections. The 15th Canadian Parliament was the only federal minority parliament that saw two different minority governments form. The most recent minority parliament elected at the federal level is the 44th Canadian Parliament , whose composition was determined in September 2021. Minority governments also occur in all provincial legislatures, as well as
2691-457: A number of controversies involving the governing PC Party, including the fallout over the shooting death of native protester Dudley George at Ipperwash , the deaths of seven people from tainted water in Walkerton , and the decision to provide tax credits to parents who sent their children to private schools. Harris resigned in 2001 and his successor, Ernie Eves , received a short boost in
2808-407: A number of initiatives in the fall of 2004. These included legislation allowing restaurant patrons to bring their own wine, banning junk food in public schools, outlawing smoking in public places, and requiring students to stay in school until age 18. Following a series of high-profile maulings by pit bulls , the government also moved to ban the dogs. Some Ontarians were critical of this issue since it
2925-523: A press release which described McGuinty as an " evil reptilian kitten-eater from another planet ". Eves later stated that this was obviously meant as a joke, but acknowledged its inappropriateness. McGuinty undertook a series of choreographed events, including signing a taxpayer protection pledge not to raise taxes. He appeared on the popular sports show "Off the Record", where he received an endorsement from Canadian Idol winner Ryan Malcolm . McGuinty
3042-656: A promise to balance the budget in 2007–08. The government instead aimed at balance in 2008–09. The McGuinty Liberals also moved to expand infrastructure spending by encouraging Ontario's large pension plans to invest in the construction of new roads, schools and hospitals. Specific projects in the budget included a 10-year expansion of the Toronto Transit Commission and GO Transit , 15,000 new affordable housing units and improved border crossings. NDP leader Howard Hampton described this move as "privatization by stealth". During their second year in office,
3159-554: A right-leaning leader like McGuinty was necessary to compete against the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario (PC Party) of Premier Mike Harris . McGuinty's first term in opposition was difficult. The governing Progressive Conservatives played up McGuinty's low profile by defining him as "not up to the job" in a series of television advertisements. His internal management of the Liberal Party
3276-521: A single-party simple majority government was the 21st Dáil elected at the 1977 general election . Fifteen of the 32 governments in Irish history were minority governments, most of which were formed by Fianna Fáil . Coalitions in the Netherlands are formed with the support from parliamentary parties, elected by proportional representation. Although very rare, minority governments can be formed during
3393-534: A surprisingly difficult re-election in Ottawa South, before defeating his Conservative opponent by about 3,000 votes. During McGuinty's second term as opposition leader, he hired a more skilled group of advisors and drafted former cabinet minister Greg Sorbara as party president. McGuinty also rebuilt the party's fundraising operation, launching the Ontario Liberal Fund. In preparation for
3510-568: A third consecutive term since Oliver Mowat after his party was re-elected in that year's provincial election . McGuinty was born in Ottawa . He studied science at university, but ended up taking a law degree and practiced law in Ottawa. His father served as a Liberal member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) from 1987 until his death in 1990. A provincial election was called for later that year and McGuinty successfully ran in his father's seat, though
3627-492: A vote of confidence. There is, however, a small constitutional trick, since the majority required to obtain confidence is not calculated on the basis of all the members of parliament, but on the basis of the votes cast. As the specialist on minority governments in Belgium, Lucien Rigaux, points out, this means that the majority is calculated on the basis of the members present and does not require more than 76 votes (the majority of
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3744-603: Is a looser alliance of parties, exemplified by Sweden. There the long-governing Social Democrats have ruled with more or less formal support from other parties – in the mid-20th century from Agrarians, after 1968 from Communists, and more recently from Greens and ex-Communists – and have thus been able to retain executive power and (in practice) legislative initiative. This is also common in Canada, where nine elections from 1921 to 2005 effectively produced minority federal governments . The parties can rarely cooperate enough to establish
3861-414: Is almost certain to occur when they are denied the opportunity to govern). This means that in most situations, the party with the most seats has the best chance and the least complicated route to winning a confidence vote, regardless of its place on the political spectrum. At the Canadian federal level, in the four most recent of the five occasions a governing party lost the plurality without another winning
3978-423: Is different from Wikidata All set index articles Dalton McGuinty Dalton James Patrick McGuinty Jr. OOnt (born July 19, 1955) is a former Canadian politician who served as the 24th premier of Ontario from 2003 to 2013. He was the first Liberal leader to win two majority governments since Mitchell Hepburn nearly 70 years earlier. In 2011, he became the first Liberal premier to secure
4095-493: Is expired. The leader of a minority government will also often call an election in hopes of winning a stronger mandate from the electorate. In Canada, for instance, federal minority governments last an average of 18 months. The unprecedentedly close 2010 Australian federal election produced a federal minority government in Australia for the first time since 1940 . The Labor Party and Coalition both won 72 seats, 4 short of
4212-403: The 2003 election , the party adopted a platform that emphasized lowering class sizes in schools, hiring more nurses, increasing environmental protections, and "holding the line" on taxes. McGuinty also made an effort to improve his debating skills and received coaching from Scott Reid who also trained United States Senator John McCain . McGuinty's chances of forming government were improved by
4329-569: The 2004 , 2006 , 2008 , 2019 , and 2021 federal elections, with no party obtaining a majority due in part to the dominance of the Bloc Québécois in the province of Quebec . In Westminster systems, in minority situations, the incumbent government usually has the first opportunity to attempt to win the confidence of the House. This is so even if the incumbents have fewer seats – the incumbent prime minister still holds their commission for
4446-402: The 2005 UK General Election , the governing Labour party won by a majority of 66 seats in the House of Commons with only 35.2% of the popular vote.) If support for some parties is regionally concentrated, however, then Duverger's law applies separately to each region, and so no party can be sufficiently dominant in each region to receive a majority of the seats. This was the situation in Canada in
4563-535: The 2019 Danish general election is a single-party minority government of the Social Democrats (who received about 25% of the vote in the previous election) supported by three other parties; the previous cabinet, Lars Løkke Rasmussen III , was a three-party minority coalition led by Venstre and supported by the Danish People's Party . An earlier cabinet of Rasmussen's, Lars Løkke Rasmussen II ,
4680-519: The Coalition formed a majority government of just one seat. They lost their majority after the 2018 leadership spill which deposed Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull , as National Party MP Kevin Hogan moved to the crossbench. The government lost another seat after the 2018 Wentworth by-election , which was won by independent Kerryn Phelps . They lost another seat after MP Julia Banks resigned from
4797-613: The Greens tolerated two consecutive SPD minority governments (this arrangement ended in 1985 when the SPD and Greens entered into coalition.) Other examples of a minority government on a state level include the first government of Klaus Wowereit in Berlin , comprising a minority coalition of the SPD and Greens supported by the PDS, which was invested after a corruption scandal led to the collapse of
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4914-489: The Liberal Party , reducing the government to 73 seats. However, they retained confidence from all three MPs, enabling them to remain in government. Belgium is not unfamiliar with minority governments. Moreover, this type of government is not explicitly provided for in the Constitution, even though the Constitution does not prevent its existence. More often than not, minority governments emerge following elections when
5031-551: The Ontario New Democratic Party , and now hoped to defeat the governing Conservatives by strategic voting . The Progressive Conservative Party was re-elected, and McGuinty rallied his party in the election's closing days to draw 40% of the popular vote for the Liberals, their second-best performance in fifty years, which increased their seat total in the Legislature from 30 to 36. McGuinty himself faced
5148-483: The University of Ottawa before practicing law in Ottawa. Since 1980, he has been married to high school girlfriend Terri McGuinty, an elementary school teacher . The couple have one daughter and three sons. McGuinty's father, Dalton Sr., served as Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) for Ottawa South until his death in 1990. Dalton Jr. won the Liberal Party's nomination for his father's former riding for
5265-530: The executive power has to govern in minority: These are the six minority governments in the history of France 's Fifth Republic as of 2024: The previous Borne government was a three-party minority coalition government as result of the June 2022 parliamentary elections that saw President Macron 's coalition lose its parliamentary majority in the National Assembly, going from a 115-seat majority to
5382-574: The formation period of a Dutch cabinet , if an election result makes a majority coalition impossible. More often, a minority government is formed when one of the cabinet's coalition partners withdraws its support, or when all ministers of a given parliamentary party resign. In these cases, the Prime Minister offers the full cabinet's resignation to the Dutch Monarch . At this point, the Monarch may choose to dissolve Parliament and hold
5499-554: The provincial election of 1990 and was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario . The Liberal government of David Peterson was defeated by the social democratic Ontario New Democratic Party (NDP) in that election. In opposition, McGuinty served as the Liberal Party's critic for energy, environment and colleges and universities. He was re-elected in Ottawa South in the 1995 provincial election without much difficulty. The Liberals maintained their status as
5616-494: The surname McGuinty . If an internal link intending to refer to a specific person led you to this page, you may wish to change that link by adding the person's given name (s) to the link. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=McGuinty&oldid=1219161089 " Categories : Surnames Surnames of Irish origin Hidden categories: Articles with short description Short description
5733-505: The 150 seats in the Chamber). Moreover, confidence is obtained if there are more votes in favour than against. For example, out of 100 votes cast, a minority government can be invested with 40 affirmative votes, 20 negative votes and 40 abstentions. The abstention of parties that, for various reasons, do not wish to enter the government thus makes it possible to form an emergency government with full powers and democratic legitimacy. Never in
5850-483: The Conservatives and Liberals has formed in federal Canadian politics in 1917. Coalition governments have occurred more frequently in provincial legislatures, with several provincial coalition governments having been formed in the 20th and 21st century. Denmark has a rich tradition of minority governments. Despite the country's electoral system of proportional representation , which almost always results in
5967-472: The Energy portfolio. Minority government A minority government , minority cabinet , minority administration, or a minority parliament is a government and cabinet formed in a parliamentary system when a political party or coalition of parties does not have a majority of overall seats in the legislature . It is sworn into office, with or without the formal support of other parties, enabling
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#17327808175986084-725: The Fifth Republic. Minority government is unusual in Germany, though it was more common historically during the German Empire and the Weimar Republic . In the Federal Republic (since 1949), the constructive vote of no confidence theoretically grants minority governments a high degree of longevity, but they are rare in practice. No minority government has ever been invested on the federal level, though brief periods of minority government have existed when
6201-419: The House simply resigns, especially if the main opposition party is only a few seats short of having a majority or if it feels it has no chance of winning the support of enough members of smaller parties to win an initial confidence vote. Nevertheless, the now-common practice of the party with the most seats forming the government has led to a widespread misconception among voters that a convention exists whereby
6318-525: The King. In the parliamentary gallery, the then Prime Minister, Paul-Henri Spaak , declared: "if you think you can quickly give the country a government other than the one before you, stronger, based on a stable majority, do not hesitate, overthrow us. But if you don't have that assurance, if you foresee, after a negative vote, a long period of hesitation, conciliations, abortive attempts, then think carefully about what you are going to do". He nevertheless succumbs
6435-594: The Legislature back for a rare winter session to debate and pass several high-profile bills. The government legislated a "greenbelt" around Toronto . The size of Prince Edward Island, the Greenbelt protects a broad swath of land from development and preserves forests and farmland. In response to court decisions, the McGuinty Liberals updated legislation to reflect the change in the definition of marriage to include homosexual couples. McGuinty also launched
6552-427: The Legislature back in session in late 2003. The government brought in auto insurance reforms (including a price cap), rolled-back a series of corporate and personal tax cuts that had been scheduled for 2004, passed legislation that enshrined publicly funded healthcare into provincial law, hired more meat and water inspectors, opened up the provincially owned electricity companies to Freedom of Information laws and enacted
6669-512: The Liberals for two years on all confidence motions and budgetary legislation, in exchange for the passage of certain legislative measures proposed by the NDP. This was not a formal coalition, because the NDP remained an opposition party and was not given seats in the cabinet . In this case, the Liberals did not even have a plurality of seats: the Progressive Conservatives were the largest single party with 52 seats, whereas
6786-681: The Liberals had 48 and the NDP had 25. New Zealand's 48th Parliament operated with both a coalition and a looser agreement: the government was a coalition between the Labour Party and the Progressives , while United Future and New Zealand First had an agreement to support the government on confidence matters, while the Green Party abstained. In most Westminster system nations, each constituency elects one member of parliament by simple plurality voting. This system heavily biases
6903-469: The Liberals imposed a controversial new Health Premium of $ 300 to $ 900, staggered according to income. This violated a key Liberal campaign pledge not to raise taxes, and gave the government an early reputation for breaking promises. The Liberals defended the premium by arguing that the previous government had a hidden deficit, and McGuinty claimed he needed to break his campaign pledge on taxation to fulfill his promises on other fronts. His own finance critic of
7020-403: The McGuinty Liberals brought forward a series of negotiations with the province's unions. First, Health Minister George Smitherman concluded an agreement with the province's doctors that included incentives to practice in family health teams or under-serviced communities. Education Minister Gerard Kennedy established a province-wide negotiating framework with the province's teachers' unions with
7137-884: The McGuinty government of breaking its promise to cap classroom sizes. Kennedy responded that some flexibility is always necessary, and that any reasonable person would regard a 90–95% success rate as a promise kept. Also in June 2005, two cabinet ministers in McGuinty's government were scrutinized for alleged improprieties. Joseph Cordiano faced calls for his resignation after revelations that he billed $ 17,000 for personal expenses to his riding association. These expenses included meals in Paris and Milan , and theatre tickets in London . Cordiano insisted that these expenses were related to riding activities, and refused to resign. McGuinty defended Cordiano in public, claiming he had "complete confidence" in
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#17327808175987254-462: The McGuinty government put forward a throne speech in October reiterating their priorities of health, education and economic prosperity. The speech outlined plans to offer the first money-back guarantee on a public service: a refund for people who do not receive a birth certificate within 15 days of applying on-line. On November 18, 2005, it was announced that Ontario's Drive Clean emissions program
7371-653: The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCPP) had erred in including his name in the search warrant. In striking Sorbara's name from the warrant, Justice Ian Nordheimer of the Ontario Superior Court said there were inadequate grounds for police to include him in the first place. The judge was particularly scathing in his review of the RCMP probe of Sorbara. On May 23, 2006, Sorbara was reinstated as Minister of Finance, while Duncan returned to
7488-603: The Sorbara Group offices — owned by Greg Sorbara and his brothers — as part of the ongoing Royal Group Technologies investigation. The warrant stated that there were reasonable grounds to believe Sorbara and other directors of Royal Group defrauded the company and shareholders when they bought land in Brampton, that was owned by a subsidiary of the Sorbara Group. Sorbara initially resisted opposition calls for him to step down, then resigned as Minister of Finance
7605-519: The Yukon Legislative Assembly. However, minority governments do not occur as frequently in these legislatures as they do at the federal level. Ontario has seen six minority legislatures in its political history, the most among the 10 provinces and the territory of Yukon. Alberta is the only province that has never had a minority government in its provincial legislature. While minority governments may occur in Canadian politics,
7722-624: The cards. A sort of national union to which the N-VA does not, however, adhere, the Vlaams Belang and the PTB decided to give its confidence to the Wilmès II government in order to give it full powers and, above all, democratic legitimacy to deal with the health crisis. As with day-to-day business, the minority government provides a flexible institutional response in times of crisis that allows
7839-532: The duration of the writ period and immediately following an election. If they cannot form a government that commands the confidence of the House then it is expected that they will resign that commission voluntarily – it is not considered acceptable for the Sovereign (or his representative) to revoke said commission unless the prime minister was acting in serious breach of constitutional protocol. Nevertheless, usually, an incumbent government that loses its plurality in
7956-542: The elected assembly is that it can be instituted without a majority of the members of Parliament having voted in favour of it, but that, on the other hand, a majority of the members of the assembly is required to dismiss it (76 minimum). Minority governments can occur in the federal Parliament of Canada , and the legislatures of most provinces and territories except the Northwest Territories and Nunavut , which have non-partisan legislatures and operate as
8073-416: The fall of the homogeneous Catholic government. After 38 days of caretaker government – which was relatively long for the time – the King appointed a Catholic cabinet. The latter was finally nipped in the bud by Parliament since the latter decided not to grant its confidence because the proposed Catholic coalition did not respect "Flemish national law", that it "was not qualified to resolve the difficulties of
8190-496: The federal and 27 at the state level. All four federal instances were the result of an incumbent government losing its majority: the fourth Adenauer cabinet after the withdrawal of the FDP ; the second Erhard cabinet , also after the withdrawal of the FDP; the first Brandt cabinet after parliamentary defections; and the third Schmidt cabinet after the dismissal of the FDP. Of these, only
8307-505: The federal government, while those in Quebec receive $ 3,800. Premier McGuinty and Prime Minister Paul Martin debated the Ontario government's accusations throughout the spring of 2005. McGuinty and Martin finally met in May and, following a nine-hour meeting, McGuinty received a commitment for $ 5.75 billion, spread out over five years, including new money for immigrant settlement, training for
8424-587: The federal level, state-level minority governments usually survived much longer, lasting an average of 333 days. The longest was the two SPD -led minority governments of Reinhold Höppner in Saxony-Anhalt , which served two complete terms (1,452 and 1,406 days, respectively) between 1994 and 2002. These governments, enabled by the abstention of the PDS during confidence votes, were dubbed the " Magdeburger model". However, most minority governments still resulted from
8541-582: The federated entities has a minority government been formed spontaneously. On the other hand, at the central and then federal state level, there have been five attempts to form a minority government. Three of these attempts were transformed. As Lucien Rigaux points out in an issue devoted to the history of minority governments in Belgium: "The first two attempts were failures. In 1925, the Liberals experienced an electoral debacle. They preferred to stay away from
8658-633: The formation of a formal coalitions is rare, with past minority governments relying on cooperation and confidence and supply arrangements to govern instead. Historically, several coalition governments have formed in the 1840s and 1850s, in the Parliament of the Province of Canada . The formation of the Great Coalition in 1864 eventually led to Canadian Confederation in 1867. Since Canadian Confederation , only one wartime coalition between
8775-460: The government that was in power loses its majority and has to become a caretaker government pending the formation of a new government. In Belgium, it is the King who appoints the government. However, as Belgium is a democratic state, constitutional custom requires that this appointment must be approved by the Chamber of Representatives , the democratically elected body. This consent is given by
8892-536: The government to support their nomination for Taoiseach and achieve majority support. Support for bills and other items requiring a Dáil majority vote is then negotiated on a bill-by-bill basis. If no agreement can be reached to nominate an individual to lead a government, the outgoing Taoiseach (continuing to act in a caretaker capacity) can seek dissolution of the Dáil and call a new general election. However, this circumstance has not occurred to date. The last Dáil with
9009-495: The implementation of regionalisation, on the question of state interference in economic affairs and on the method of "community to community" negotiation involving so-called community parties rather than political families. The socialists, who had campaigned strongly on the left, decided in the Namur Congress to withdraw from the negotiations and denounced the formation of a "coalition of the rights". Not giving up on forming
9126-463: The impression that they are playing a fool's game where the lowest bidder will have the chance to claim a few positions in a government that will carry out the entire Christian program. The Christian Social Party then tries to capitalize on its 104 seats to gain confidence. Contrary to all expectations, the abstention of one Volksunie member and two Liberals was enough to gain the confidence of Parliament. The Eyskens II minority government thus received
9243-504: The incumbent Liberal government was defeated. After party leader Lyn McLeod resigned due to her leading the Liberals to a second defeat in the 1995 election , McGuinty was elected leader in the 1996 leadership election . McGuinty lost the 1999 election to Progressive Conservative Premier Mike Harris , but won a resounding majority in 2003 . From 2003 to 2007, McGuinty's government increased spending for health care and education. He won another majority in 2007 , though his second term
9360-406: The legislature, he was named a senior fellow at Harvard University's Weatherhead Center for International Affairs . McGuinty was born in Ottawa , Ontario. His parents are politician and professor Dalton McGuinty Sr. and full-time nurse Elizabeth (Pexton) McGuinty. The son of a Francophone mother and an Anglophone father, McGuinty is bilingual . McGuinty is the second Roman Catholic to hold
9477-645: The loss of a majority – on 13 occasions due to the withdrawal of a coalition partner, on 12 occasions due to defeat in an election, and on four occasions due to parliamentary defections. Only seven minority governments were formed on a "tolerance" basis similar to the Magdeburger model. Furthermore, only two minority governments lasted more than a single term: the aforementioned Höppner governments in Saxony-Anhalt, and from 1982 to 1983 and 1983–85 in Hesse , when
9594-571: The minister. At around the same time, Minister of Transportation Harinder Takhar was accused of a conflict-of-interest, after visiting a company that he owned in a blind trust. Takhar acknowledged that he made "an error in judgement", but denied any wrongdoing. Both Cordiano and Takhar were retained in their portfolios following a cabinet shuffle on June 29, 2005. The matter was sent to the provincial ethics commissioner, who on January 4, 2006, ruled that Takhar had violated Ontario's integrity guidelines by not maintaining an arms length relationship with
9711-509: The minority Tindemans I government won the confidence of the House and the Senate five days later. The Walloon Rally also joined the coalition, which became a majority a few months later. Finally, the last successful attempt was made in 2020 to fight the COVID-19 crisis. While the negotiations have been stalled since the last elections on 26 May 2019, the coronavirus crisis has brought down
9828-484: The official opposition amid a provincial swing from the NDP to the Progressive Conservatives. McGuinty's supporters in his 1996 leadership bid included John Manley , Murray Elston , and Bob Chiarelli . He was elected leader at the party's convention December in a surprise victory over front-runner Gerard Kennedy . Kennedy, a former head of Toronto 's Daily Bread food bank , was popular on
9945-440: The parliamentary situation" and that it did not make it possible to fight the bourgeoisie". In 1946, the government of national unity, which followed World War II , had already served its purpose. The Liberals felt that their new electoral defeat invited them to undergo an opposition cure. Socialists and Catholics clashed during the election campaign over the royal question of the return of King Leopold III to Belgium, which made
10062-452: The party with the most seats always gets to form the government. In fact, the most compelling reason for this practice is that the party with the most seats can survive confidence votes so long as smaller party (or parties) simply abstain from confidence votes, whereas a governing party without a plurality in the House needs at least one other party to vote with it at all times (assuming the largest party will always vote no confidence, but that
10179-586: The political climate particularly tense. The Socialists reject the invitation of the Catholic informer to form a government because the former want to associate the Communists, who have obtained a better result than the Liberal Party , with the government, while the Catholic Party categorically refuses to do so. After a month of political crisis, a cabinet composed solely of socialists is appointed by
10296-646: The polls from his attempts to move the PC Party to the centre. The 2003 North America blackout gave Eves increased exposure and rallied some support for his party. He called an election immediately after the blackout, and polling showed that the previous Liberal lead had narrowed to a tie in the first week. The rise in Tory support was short-lived. The Liberals took a commanding lead in the campaign's second week, and remained in that position until election day. The Progressive Conservative government accidentally distributed
10413-421: The popularity of other parties has increased such that coalition governments are now typical and expected, with one of the two major parties being the senior partner, and with one or more junior partners ensuring that the coalition retains a majority in the Dáil. A minority government is formed when a party (or a coalition) secures agreement from one or more other parties or independent TDs who are not members of
10530-514: The premiership. His father is Irish , and his mother is English and French Canadian . His maternal grandfather immigrated to Canada from England . He has nine brothers and sisters. His younger brother David has represented the riding of Ottawa South in the House of Commons of Canada since 2004. He is an alumnus of St. Patrick's High School in Ottawa, earning a B.Sc. in biology from McMaster University . He then earned his LL.B from
10647-615: The previous CDU government; it served on an interim basis from June 2001 until the October state election . The first government of Hannelore Kraft in North Rhine-Westphalia , comprising a coalition of the SPD and Greens tolerated by The Left , was formed after the 2010 state election and served until the 2012 election . The second government of Bodo Ramelow in Thuringia , a coalition of The Left, SPD, and Greens,
10764-451: The progressive wing of the party, while McGuinty built his core support on its establishment and pro-business right-wing. McGuinty was fourth on the first and second ballots, closely behind Dwight Duncan . He then overtook Duncan and Joe Cordiano on the third and fourth ballots, respectively, receiving the support of their delegates to win on the fifth ballot over Kennedy. Critics called McGuinty "Harris Lite", but his supporters argued that
10881-572: The projects was close to $ 1 billion and the move was seen as pandering to the electorate in a few electoral districts. The scandal caused the Liberals to be reduced to a minority government . McGuinty continued as premier for another year and a half, but the continuing gas plant issue refused to go away. He prorogued the legislature in October 2012 before being succeeded as Liberal leader and premier by Kathleen Wynne in February 2013. McGuinty resigned his own seat in June 2013. Shortly after leaving
10998-480: The province's finances. Peters revealed that the out-going Progressive Conservative government had left a hidden deficit of at least $ 5.6 billion. The Conservatives questioned Peters' methodology, and suggested that the McGuinty government was overstating the province's financial difficulties to break or delay some of its campaign spending promises. McGuinty took office as Premier and Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs on October 23, 2003. The new government called
11115-546: The provinces receive new federal funding in exchange for providing reports on such things as waiting times for surgeries. McGuinty's government ended the year by releasing "Progress Report 2004: Getting Results for Ontario". This work focused on health, education, and economic growth, and set targets to achieve before the next election (including reducing the high school drop out rate, increasing participation in post-secondary education and reducing wait times for specific medical procedures). The McGuinty government brought forward
11232-691: The result that most school boards settled their contracts without lost teaching time. Finally, Management Board Chair Gerry Phillips closed a deal with the provincial government's own civil service union, the Ontario Public Service Employees Union . On June 22, 2005, Education Minister Gerard Kennedy announced that 90–95% of Ontario students between junior kindergarten and Grade Three would be in classes of twenty students or fewer by 2007. He also acknowledged that extenuating circumstances may require slightly larger classes in some cases. Opposition critic Frank Klees accused
11349-507: The same day. He consistently denied any knowledge of the specific allegations against him, and sued the RCMP to either clarify their case against him or withdraw their investigation. Following Sorbara's resignation, Dwight Duncan was appointed as Minister of Finance and Chair of the Management Board. Donna Cansfield took over Duncan's responsibility as Minister of Energy and Jim Bradley as Government House Leader. The next day,
11466-696: The second Erhard and third Schmidt cabinets are considered "true" minority governments, as the fourth Adenauer cabinet was quickly dissolved and replaced by the fifth Adenauer cabinet , and the first Brandt cabinet retained a technical majority due to the Bundestag delegation from Berlin. Erhard and Schmidt's minority governments were short-lived, lasting less than a month, and both ended with the Chancellor leaving office. Between 1949 and December 2017, nine different states had at least one period of minority government, with some having as many as four. Compared to
11583-452: The state to continue to function and to be able to carry out its essential tasks. However, unlike a majority government, the action of a minority government is not locked to current affairs, day-to-day business or urgent decisions. It benefits from the fullness of its competences since it is constituted on the basis of a democratic decision which grants it de facto a certain democratic legitimacy. The main disadvantage of minority government by
11700-413: The support of Parliament. The Social Christian Party obtained a remarkable score that had nothing to envy to its results of the 19th century with 104 seats out of 212. However, the government's formation patinated notably on the school question which pitted Catholics and lay people against each other and which related to the financing of Catholic and public schools. Both the socialists and the liberals have
11817-428: The support of a relative majority of the members present, 106 in favour and 104 against. A few months later, the minority government became a majority government when the Liberal Party joined the government team after an agreement was reached on the school issue. Then, in 1974, the political context was that of the state reforms initiated in 1970. Community autonomy was achieved, but the implementation of regionalisation
11934-476: The support of parties outside the government. Theoretically, early general elections need not be held, but they are often necessary in practice, since the coalition agreement no longer has parliamentary support. A third option is available to the Monarch: the formation of a new cabinet of different Parliamentary parties (which may include the defecting coalition partner). Elections are then held as scheduled at
12051-634: The time, Gerry Phillips , had predicted that the Tories' projected balanced budget would in fact result in a $ 5 billion deficit in a meeting of the Standing Committee of Estimates of the Legislature on June 3, 2003. Liberal MPP Monte Kwinter also predicted a $ 5 billion deficit. As a result, the Liberals dropped badly in polls and McGuinty fell behind Ernie Eves in the category of preferred premier. The Ontario Health Premium also became
12168-556: The trustee appointed to run his blind trust. McGuinty has defended his minister, and has rejected calls to remove him from cabinet, even after the Integrity Commissioner issued his finding. In the same cabinet shuffle, Premier McGuinty withdrew from the Intergovernmental Affairs portfolio and became the province's first Minister of Research and Innovation . On October 11, 2005, police raided
12285-484: The unemployed, federal delivery of meat inspection and corporate tax collection and per capita funding for post-secondary education. In late April 2005, McGuinty announced the closure of the Lakeview coal-fired generating station, one of Ontario's largest polluters. Although the McGuinty government had promised to close all coal-burning plants by 2007, Energy Minister Dwight Duncan announced on June 14, 2005, that this
12402-402: The vote towards increasing the number of seats of the top two parties and reducing the seats of smaller parties, a principle known in political science as Duverger's law , and thus minority governments are relatively uncommon. Advocates of this system see this as one of its advantages. A party with less than 40% of the popular vote can often win an outright majority of the seats. (For instance, in
12519-819: The winning party coming nowhere near a majority, single-party minority governments are still a regular occurrence in Danish politics. Since 1982 even most of multi-party coalition governments in Denmark are minority ones; thus, the government of the day is still required to make deals with non-governing parties. More often small far-left or far-right parties provide confidence support of centre-left or centre-right coalition governments led by Social Democrats or Venstre. For many years, Danish politics has been divided into "Red" and "Blue" blocs, whose parliamentarians are typically expected to support Social Democratic and Venstre cabinets, respectively. The Frederiksen Cabinet elected in
12636-555: Was a large infusion of new money into hospitals specifically to shorten wait times in key areas: knee and hip replacements, cancer treatment, cardiac treatment, cataracts, and MRI and CT scans. The government also brought in free immunizations for children, 150 new Family Health Teams to improve access to physicians, almost 100,000 new home care spaces for Ontario's elderly, almost 4,000 new long-term care beds, and $ 200 million more to improve public health and fight potential outbreaks like SARS and West Nile fever . To pay for this plan,
12753-414: Was a single-party Venstre minority government, a particularly notable feat, as Venstre only received about 20% of the vote in the election , finishing third. Estonia has had several minority governments. A minority cabinet can occur: Additional support is possible also because MPs leaving a party faction are not allowed to officially join another faction until the next elections. A government can be
12870-587: Was able to maintain his party's standing in the polls in the last stages, preventing Eves from making up ground during the leader's debate. On election day, the Liberal were elected to a majority government , winning 72 of the Ontario Legislature's 103 seats. The PC Party fell to 24 seats, while the NDP lost official party status in the legislature. Following the election, the McGuinty government asked former Provincial Auditor Erik Peters to examine
12987-521: Was also criticized by some. McGuinty's performance in the early weeks of the 1999 provincial election was widely criticized in the media, and he was generally regarded as having performed poorly in the election's only leaders' debate. In response to a question by late CITY-TV journalist Colin Vaughan , he described Mike Harris as a "thug" who is lying to the people of Ontario. McGuinty's Liberals won support from progressive voters who had supported
13104-554: Was at a standstill, in particular because the Brussels dossier was repeatedly put on ice. Fifteen days after the elections of 10 March 1974, Léo Tindemans (CVP) was appointed formator. He is entering into negotiations with the Liberals and the Socialists to form a government that can benefit from a broad parliamentary base. While the liberals seem to be acquiescing, the negotiations with the socialists reveal divergences, mainly on
13221-418: Was deeply affected by the 2008 financial crisis , which saw government revenues plummet. In addition, a scandal developed around a new plan to update health care records called eHealth Ontario . Just prior to the 2011 election, another controversy developed when McGuinty's government cancelled gas plants that were located in key Liberal ridings and were widely opposed by the local residents. The cost to cancel
13338-554: Was invested with the tolerance of the CDU to resolve the 2020 Thuringian government crisis . The Irish parliamentary system broadly works on a simple majority system, where the Taoiseach is elected by the Dáil when they achieve 50% + 1 of the votes in favour of their nomination. The Taoiseach then appoints the members of the government with the approval of the Dáil. Since the 1980s,
13455-696: Was no longer possible, and that the Nanticoke Coal Plant will not close until 2009. On May 11, 2005, the McGuinty Liberals delivered their second budget, built around the "Reaching Higher" plan for education. The second year of the four-year plan, this budget was designed to tackle to so-called "education deficit". Investing $ 6.2 billion over the next four years, the budget included the largest investment in higher education in forty years. It also increased accessibility for low-income students, expanded medical school spaces, and invested in new faculty, graduate scholarships and research. The budget also broke
13572-424: Was seen as moving the responsibility for safety away from owners and over toward the animals. People who owned pitbulls previous to the ban were allowed to keep them, muzzled in public and sterilized to prevent them from breeding. The "importing" and breeding of pitbulls in Ontario was banned, while all pitbulls being held in shelters were euthanized or sent to research facilities. During early 2005, McGuinty called
13689-406: Was to be expanded rather than scrapped. The 2006 budget was the third year of the four-year plan, and focused on the "infrastructure deficit". The centrepiece was MoveOntario, a $ 1.2 billion investment in transportation infrastructure. $ 400 million was invested to build and repair roads and bridges in municipalities across Ontario. On May 18, 2006, a judge agreed with Greg Sorbara's contention that
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