Dangerous Combo-No Term Limits and Excess Powers of a PM

Post 18 | The grey edges of democracy

Photo by Nik on Unsplash

For those 72% of Canadians who eagerly await the next election to rid us of Justin Trudeau, per the latest Ipsos Reid poll, you may also wish term limits were in place so he would be disallowed from even running again.

But the reality is that we are unlikely to ever have term limits in Canada to help us avoid prolonged spells of poor governance by a single prime minister. And the potential for serious electoral reforms to alter how we vote parties into office is also very low, even though the Liberals came into office with promises of tackling the topic.

The last national poll on term limits dates to 2019 when Angus Reid reported that 54% of Canadians supported them, with a total of eight years being the most popular duration. Given the current heat in our political climate watch for a fresh poll on the matter in 2024 where it’s an easy prediction that support for the idea will be much higher. But term limits is not a topic that often rises beyond an occasional panel discussion with political pundits or agitation on social media. Perhaps this reflects the slim reality of it ever occurring, though it could be done.

This reality is based on our British parliamentary system of governance where we do not vote directly for a prime minister, but rather for a governing party to lead Parliament who then tow along their attached leader. Our first past the post system grants government status to the party with the most MPs in the House of Commons independent of their popular support – evidenced by the Liberals achieving the lowest historical popular vote in 2021 at 32.6%.

The natural limitations of a minority government are meant to temper thin mandates, but as we are experiencing, post-election coalitions to upgrade to majority status (let’s stop with the nonsensical supply and confidence agreement terminology) are also constitutional, though undemocratic in tone.

Election dates, tenure length and PM powers

Our Constitution requires an election at least every five years to challenge the sitting government. In 2007 Parliament subsequently passed a fixed-date election law that further tightened this where general elections are to be held in October every four years, absent a non-confidence vote in the House that can force it earlier. But the four-year amendment is rather toothless as Parliament can still be dissolved or prorogued at a PM’s whim, notwithstanding the formality of needing the Governor General’s consent.

While it feels longer, Justin Trudeau ranks only tenth out of 23 prime ministers for length of time in office, with William Lyon Mackenzie King holding the record at three terms totaling almost 22 years and where his longest consecutive stretch was thirteen years. So, despite the majority’s intense dislike for the current PM his tenure length is not historical, though the monumental mess he’s made of our country is so.

Were our Parliament not so defanged in its influence over the affairs of government, the length of a PM’s time in office may be less concerning. But the past thirty years have brought increasing powers for the prime minister, the PMO (prime minister’s office), and the judiciary – while offering few checks and balances from the flabby and unelected Senate.

The powers of a Canadian prime minister are as close to absolute as you’ll find in an advanced democracy.

Unlike in the US where we see contentious public hearings when naming Supreme Court (SC) justices, a Canadian PM ostensibly just appoints ours and no amount of tarting up the selection process with descriptions of the Governor-in-Council involvement makes it any less dictatorial in practice. And in a world where important matters are being increasingly flung at the courts for decision, the PM controls not only the nine SC bigwigs but the appointment of all ~80 additional federal court judges in the country through the Minister of Justice’s powers – with that individual being appointed by and reporting to the PM.

Our Senate, the body of purported sober second thought is also unelected and appointed by the PM, with patronage for this chamber being a longstanding tradition in Canadian politics.

A PM unilaterally decides how to structure all the key ministries/departments and which MPs to lead those departments, while ministerial influence has plummeted in recent decades as key matters are increasingly driven by the PMO.

And the rotten cherry on top is the PM’s appointment of his own titular boss, the Governor General (GG). The GG has few powers other than to spend inordinate amounts of taxpayer money and dissolve or prorogue the government…at the request of the PM who unilaterally appointed her into this guilded role.

What an incestuous little system, n’est pas?

How long should tenure last?

If we look to the corporate world for inspiration, an August 2023 Harvard Law survey found 80% of Fortune 500 CEOs held tenures of less than 10 years, with a median of 4.8 years and an average of 7.2. This seems ample time to build a strategy, execute major projects, be judged by performance reviews in between and allow for crises and adjustments along the way. That running a country should be structured differently makes little sense.

Eight years should be the maximum total term for a PM without the option for return after a hiatus. If you’re doing a great job at the eight year mark then you should have been competent enough to establish a succession plan. If not, then your planning incompetence should have you step out anyway.

Putting aside outliers like Steve Jobs’ return to Apple, does anyone expect Chapters/Indigo will return to glory with Heather Reisman’s victory lap as CEO, or similarly for Bob Iger at Disney or Howard Schultz at Starbucks? If no one else is apparently able to execute your vision, then perhaps something is wrong with your plan.

Our main democratic tool

We have only one formal tool at our disposal to sweep away a PM we don’t want - which is to defeat his party in an election.

In a properly functioning democracy a non-confidence vote would have forced an election some time ago, but Jagmeet Singh is still stupefyingly propping up this walking-dead government as he catcalls from the social media sidelines. And neither humility nor good sense will sway Trudeau or Singh into an election or to step aside.

That their times have come and they won’t acknowledge it can be attributed to many things, with hubris and self-interest topping the list. In Trudeau’s case it puts an exclamation point on the need for term limits as the country has expressed enormous discontent with him personally, in addition to his party – though the cult-of-personality the Liberals created around him have made the two synonymous.

Live by the sword and die by the sword, I suppose.

But I want to do something now…

Of a more informal nature, online and societal pressures allow voters to exert pressure in other ways.

Should you wish, dear reader, there is one near term act you can take by signing the below e-petition brought forward by a Conservate MP, calling for a non-confidence vote in the House. It has no enforceability but is a way to symbolically signal the dire need for change if enough Canadians sign. It currently stands at nearly 220,000 signatures after merely fourteen days – and closes on December 24.

e-4701 Non-Confidence Petition

Share it widely.

But even once the door hits this incompetent and destructive PM’s arse on the way out, we will still live in the reality of unlimited terms, with the possibility of future prime ministers causing excessive damage or growing stale and entitled in their post. Leadership terms could be set at each party level or could be legislated more formally by the House and Senate, but the feed trough appears too deep for this to happen anytime soon.

Assuming not, it’s in our hands to keep sharing perspectives and opinions with those around us, to hold not only this prime minister and government to account, but all future PMs - and encourage leadership turnover.

A PM is there to represent and serve we the people and our fine country. And we don’t want them sitting in that office in perpetuity, no matter who they are.

Stay tuned and stay pragmatic.