Canadian WI: Liberal-NDP coalition, 1980

In Just Watch Me, John English describes an offer PET made to Broadbent in 1980: a formal coalition with 3-4 NDP Cabinet members. Broadbent ultimately refused because he thought it would be UK-1931 all over again, but let's say he swallows his doubts and lets it go through. Mulroney still wins an '84 landslide, but who will win a plurality of seats: Liberals or NDP? I still say the ideological differences post-PET are too fundamental for a LDP to emerge, but does anyone feel differently?

32nd Parliament

282 seats in the House of Commons

142 needed for majority

Liberal: 147
NDP: 32
PC: 103
 
It's entirely possible that Mulroney would win even bigger. Whatever remained of the Blue Grits who supported the Liberals in '84 would flee to the Conservatives after an NDP-Liberal coalition. In a final parliament? I'm guessing the NDP would gain quite a few seats as well, as they would have been seen to actually be in government. As well, their base of support was much less squishy than the Liberals, and their base (unions, college students, some farmers, etc) wouldn't abandon them.
 
It's entirely possible that Mulroney would win even bigger. Whatever remained of the Blue Grits who supported the Liberals in '84 would flee to the Conservatives after an NDP-Liberal coalition. In a final parliament? I'm guessing the NDP would gain quite a few seats as well, as they would have been seen to actually be in government. As well, their base of support was much less squishy than the Liberals, and their base (unions, college students, some farmers, etc) wouldn't abandon them.

OTL's 1984 was 211-40-30. So perhaps 218 PC, 40 NDP, 24 Liberal?
 
Why the jump to Mulroney winning in '84? The simple fact of the Liberal-NDP coalition might well kill John Turner's bid. Although Turner was pretty fantastic at gaining control of the Party (one of the Turner books mentions that old classic: sign up 50 new immigrants who can't even speak English to vote for Turner to become leader).

After all he's the most pro-business guy the Liberals can find bidding to lead as PM (however briefly) a Liberal-NDP alliance. The NDP would walk out before the '84 elections. Maybe Jean Chrétien wins, loses the '84 election and then the Liberal-NDP alliance carries the day against NAFTA in '88?

Further simple butterflies perhaps means Turner isn't quite as much of a coward, blows off Trudeau's wanted appointments and doesn't cave in the '84 debates with "I had no choice". Mulroney would still win, I imagine, but even a marginal majority government would have major implications going forward.

In terms of policy, however, Trudeau by this point had already destroyed the Canadian fiscal position[1]; ruined the military; pissed off Quebec, the West, and Red Tory Ontario; and pretty much is in power only because Joe Clark can't count. So most policy is basically dead, except for the NEP.

Will Western rural NDP members (those that would join the Reform Party IOTL) convince Trudeau against the NEP? Will the NDP stop MacEachen's wage controls?

(Note, of course, that neither the NEP nor MacEachen's budgets did much.)

Constitution Act, 1982. What differences might be in it if the NDP is in cabinet?




[1] First he wrecked it. Then he torpedoed Joe Clark's budget when Clark tried to fix it. Then, IOTL '80s he had a series of the worst budgets in Canadian history. Christ I wish Stanfield could have caught one more football.
 
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