Â鶹ӰÊÓ

Does the British political model which has shaped Canada's government give the Canadian prime minister an unfair advantage in an election campaign?

Under the current rules, Stephen Harper can still hit the hustings as "Prime Minister," even though he is technically just one of the hundreds of candidates seeking to represent one of Canada's 308 ridings.

According to the Westminster model of democratic elections and government that Canada uses, the PM is the PM until an election says differently and until when, or if, a new PM is asked by the Governor General to head the government.

Ditto for the 37 or so candidates who are still ministers in charge of ministries and departments of the government: They serve until they are re-elected or a new minister is sworn in after the election.

So Canada will always have a minister of defence if war breaks out.

But is this an unfair advantage? In fact, last weekend U.S. President Barack Obama launched his re-election campaign, and will remain in office until January 2013 no matter what the results of the November 2012 vote.

Most political watchers say the rules that make sure there are hands constantly on the rudder of Ship Canada make absolute sense.

"For every day it helps to be referred to as PM or Minister in campaign coverage, there are just as many days when it doesn't help," said John Tory, former Progressive Conservative party leader in Ontario.

"And if bad things happen, they get to deal with them and if they handle them badly, they are still accountable, campaign or not," said Tory, now a broadcaster.

On the Liberal side of the political fence there was also agreement with Tory.

There is nothing unfair in not -- for even a minute -- leaving Canada without a hand on the tiller of state, said Jean Augustine, Ontario's Fairness Commissioner, a former Liberal MP and Parliamentary Secretary to former prime minister Jean Chretien.

"Someone has to be in charge of the country, like it or not," said Augustine, who held the riding of Etobicoke-Lakeshore between 1993 and 2006, when she gave up the safe Liberal seat her then-seatless prospective Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff ultimately campaigned in.

Ignatieff won the safe seat but lost the leadership race to Stephane Dion, and had to wait until 2008 to become leader.

Augustine said the prime minister is still the leader of all of Canada and remains so until he is replaced. "This goes to the continuation of government. We must never be in the state where we do not have a government," she said.

It is the job of the media to make sure that in all their coverage, the prime minister is referred to as "candidate," or "party leader," said Augustine, who was also minister of state for multiculturalism and the status of women and a deputy Speaker of the House.

"In the case of Mr. (Stephen) Harper, the media should refer to him as ‘Candidate Harper' or the ‘Leader of the Conservative Party'.

"One can make the argument of unfair advantage and ask for a ‘levelling of the playing field,' but you cannot get away from the fact that he is the prime minister and will be that until he or a new one is sworn into office.

"There is no unequal balance here that puts his opposition candidate at a disadvantage. He is the minister according to our laws."

The parliamentary system

The Westminster system that is used in Canada in its current form came into being in Britain in 1801, and is usually found in Commonwealth countries. For example, Britain, Canada, India, Jamaica and some other Caribbean countries are governed under the model. These are all plural democracies, in which several political parties each put forward candidates to the voters. The winner of the election in each riding is simply the person who gets the most votes.

According to Canada's Library of Parliament website, a prime minister ceases to hold office when the governor general accepts his or her resignation or when a prime minister is dismissed by the governor general. Following an electoral defeat, a prime minister resigns when his or her successor is ready to form a government.

Likewise the government, and its ministers, stay in office until the prime minister resigns or is dismissed by the governor general.

Ministers have full authority to exercise their ministerial responsibilities right up until the day of the election, even if they are candidates. Successive governments have, however, traditionally chosen to exercise some restraint in two areas in the three months before an election: Making significant appointments, and government advertising.

During the government formation process, the current government remains in office, as it is still the lawful executive authority, with all the powers and responsibilities that go with executive office.

If it is not clear who will form the next government, the normal business of government continues. Any matters requiring significant decisions should be deferred, or handled by way of a holding arrangement. If neither of these options is possible, decisions should be made only after consultation with other parties.

Who's in charge?

Delores Lawrence, president of Operation Vote Canada, said from an international perspective, Canada has to have a prime minister and a government until the very moment that the new, or reelected government takes over.

Her organization was formerly Operation Black Vote Canada, that was formed to educate, motivate, promote and support Black Canadians to participate in Canada's governments, agencies, boards, commissions, civil service and in Canada's political process at all levels.

However it has grown to include Canadians of all races and the name was recently changed. "This country is a world leader and we can't have anyone having to ask: ‘Who's in charge?' It's unfortunate if someone has to be perceived to have an advantage because of this but that's our law."

Tory, meanwhile, provided examples showing why having someone in charge is necessary.

"If there was an immigration fiasco or a flu pandemic during an election, and it wasn't handled well you could be sure they would be referred to as PM or minister."

Tory, a former Member of Ontario's Provincial Parliament, was matter-of-fact about campaigning under the title of prime minister.

"We can't have it all ways," Tory said.

"Most important, the country needs to have executive officers in charge who are elected. Even during the brief period of an election we can't have public servants running the country alone, not because they aren't good people but because they are not public office holders.

"While the PM and ministers are no longer members of parliament after dissolution, ministers are still ministers with all of the responsibilities and accountabilities as in non-election times. So the reason we still refer to them as prime minister or minister is because they are."

For our own coverage, Â鶹ӰÊÓ has chosen to refer to Prime Minister Stephen Harper, rather than Conservative Leader Stephen Harper.