Political Bookshelf with STEWART KIFF
How We Almost Gave the Tories the Boot
The Inside Story Behind the Coalition A memoir by Brian Topp, Lorimer Publishers, Toronto, 2010
speculation. Just as often the pub- lic are left wondering how ideas, policies and agreements are reached amongst our elected representa- tives in Ottawa and the provincial capitals. From this endless night of conjecture comes a startlingly clear view of the closed door negotiations of some recent events that monopo- lized the headlines from the end of
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2008 until early 2009. Brian Topp’s new book is an vivid account of the negotiations that lay behind the attempt to form a working coalition between the Federal Liberal Party and Federal NDP, who abet- ted by the Bloc Quebecois hoped to brush aside the minority government of the federal Conservatives the after the election in the fall of 2008. The author, Brian Topp, was the NDP Federal Campaign Director during the 2008 vote and is well placed to provide this riveting first-person memoir of the high level negotiations he took part in. Topp played a lead role for the NDP in the pro- motion and negotiation of the coalition. He was also instrumental in formulating the idea of a coali- tion during a NDP election planning conference in October of 2008. Throughout the book Topp often excerpts word for word messages sent and received from his Blackberry and this only helps to add to the insider feeling this book has. In fact the book is so loaded with email and text
chat that it seems as if a new genre of political writ- ing is evolving before the readers eyes. No doubt as messages were being sent no one foresaw them form- ing the basis of this book and their unguardedness only adds to the behind the scenes atmosphere of the book. Gone are the smoky backrooms of the cor- ridors of power, seemingly replaced by an unlimited data plan and an omnivorous 24 hour news cycle. Still, the old world does rear its head at times as
when Topp recounts how on December 1st, 2008 when the NDP was called by CTV reporter Rob- ert Fife to comment on his scoop that the Liber- als and NDP had agreed to create a four person economic panel to guide the new government on
60 Campaigns & Elections | Canadian Edition
oo often the workings of government in Canada are shrouded in mystery and
finance, budget and economic issues. “It seemed like a pretty good idea to me,” Topp
writes. “The only thing surprising about it was that we learned about it on CTV, not during the many hours of meetings we had just had with our Liberal partners.” Instances like this will ring all too true to any political professional. The back and forth of the negotiations is fascinat-
ing reading for those interested in how an accord such as this would take form and the obstacles it faced. One of the more interesting tidbits shared was the unwillingness of some Liberals to give any cabi- net seats to the NDP. Though anecdotal this to me is a telling sign of a sense of Liberal entitlement that many of the electorate had grown tired of. Obvi- ously though a dip in popularity did nothing to get the message to its intended Liberal recipients. This was not the first time Brian Topp had
worked on forming a political accord between ri- val parties. He draws on his work in Saskatchewan and Ontario and he also brings up the accord that was discussed between the NDP, the Tories and the Bloc in 2006. All in all it is hard to think of a time- lier entertaining read. Recent news stories indicating that the Federal
Conservative party is preparing to run in the next election against the idea of an anti-Conservative co- alition – make this memoir exceedingly relevant. One of the recurring ideas in the book is Topp musing aloud about “next time”. It is apparent, at least from Brian Topp’s perspective (and in all likelihood the leadership of the NDP), that a coalition government is a reasonable option to consider following the next federal election in Canada. This is doubly interest- ing as the continued popularity of the Bloc Québé- cois continues to hinder realistic chances of any party forming a majority government in Canada. While the “progressive” coalition of late 2008 may
be dead, as long as the Canadian electorate contin- ues to return minority parliaments, the promotion and negotiation of a Canadian governing coalition will continue to be a very hot topic over the next several years. A newly minted coalition government in Great Britain may also help to soften up the talk- ing points in the Canadian media as well. I recommend the book because Brian Topp runs you through much of the decision-making strategies
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