One week ago, the Canadian electorate foisted a new way of doing politics on our political parties.  Conservatives have a “precarious” minority  government with 124 seats. The Liberals have been reduced to opposition at 103 seats but not wiped out as some predicted. The NDP have increased their seat count to 29 but do not have enough to play king makers, The Bloc hoped for the knock out punch to the Liberals but instead are knocked back on their feet with 51 seats. There is one independent, a Quebec City radio host who owes no allegiances.

So guess what? To get ahead, these parties are just going to have to get along.  None wants to pull the plug and send the process back to election. That would be political suicide. Canadians are weary of the churlish approach to politics and they demand change. So all the party’s feet are all tied to the fire of co operation.

This is a good thing. This is the change Canadians voted for. Not just out with the old and in with the new, but out with the old way of adversarial politics and in with the new way of co operative politics. This is a new era. This is a new way of doing politics. This is the way of the future. A harbinger of what to expect should propositional representation take hold in Canada.

Members of Parliament who value faith on both sides of the house will be an asset to this new way of doing politics. Faith ought to predispose them to co operative action for the best interests of the country. With a faith commitment, political ideology can take a back seat. Faith dampens rhetoric. Faith can provide common ground where politics tends to divide.

Rather than radicalizing parliament as some fear, faith may just be the tonic that makes this parliament work for the good of Canada.