Electoral and Parliamentary Reform (part 1)
Introduction Recently my co-bloggerposted an opinion about creating support for electoral reform andthis has encouraged me to reexamine where we are in that regard. Iwill in future posts also take…
Rural
A matter of Privilege.
“It’s becoming increasingly evidentthat the Harper Conservatives dislike public accountability,”saidElizabeth May, MP for Saanich-Gulf Islands and Leader of the GreenParty. “They are alreadylimitingdebate in the House on a regular basis,…
A Mea Culpa ….of sorts!
In recent days much hasbeen said about MPLarry Millers comparing those that favor the gun registry to theHitler regime, whilst I think that in this casethere is no comparison its…
Representation & Depression
With parliament onceagain back in session I am again fighting depression, its not thatthe attack on our democracy increases any more during these time butthat it receives greater attention and…
Oxymoron – Open Government
Apparently there hasbeen an “Open Government Consultation” conducted byTreasury Board over the last couple of weeks. Whilst I am not up onsuch ‘consultations’ David Eaves is very much so, I…
Enemy of the people of Canada.
Who is the enemy, you decide! In a sworn affidavit released Tuesday to TheCanadian Press, Andrew Frank says he was told by his supervisorat ForestEthics that a PMO official had…
Prime Minister Dad
In case you missed itRick Mercer latest “rant” once again says what others,myself included, say in a page full in just a few sentences, and onceagain he is right on…
Due Process versus Economic Interests
Itshard for someone blogging about democracy to ignore the recentefforts by our Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver to call intoquestion the perfectly legitimate concerns by both Canadian citizensand environmentalists from…
The Real Outsiders – Disengaged Citizens.
Havingfinally gotten around to reading Samara’s report TheReal Outsiders: Politically Disengaged Views on Politics andDemocracy,published late last year I will give a brief synopsis of theirfindings along with my reaction…
Democracy Requires Dialog
So says my tag line forthis blog and it is my belief that such dialog is fundamental to notonly democracy and governance but for the good of society in general.…
Seasons Greetings
May you all be safe, happy and healthy during this season of celebration, giving & receiving. May 2012 bring equality, fulfillment, contentment & true democracy to us all.
It Stinks On The Hill
Justin Trudeau’sperceptive description of one of the Harper Regimes mouthpieces gotme to thinking! Out here in rural Canada we are used to theoccasional smell wafting up the hill from the…
Does Income change the Outcome?
By now you have allseen the OCED report that says “The richest 1% of Canadians saw their share of total income increase from 8.1% in 1980 to13.3% in 2007”. It…
The H@$#&r Government.
Regular readers willknow that I refuse to use the phrase that links OUR Governmentdirectly with the leader of the Conservative party, preferring to usethe more accurate term when referring to…
Statscan to stop charging for data.
Embassy Magazine(recently) broke the story thatall of Statistics Canada’s online data will not only be made free,but released under the Governmentof Canada’s Open Data License Agreement(updated and reviewed earlierthis week)…
Not Important?
“There are two rules at thecentre of Parliamentary democracy. First, any politician given actualresponsibility must have an elected mandate. Second, government isaccountable to all politicians with an elected mandate. “…
The Floor Crossing Delema
“The floorcrossing tradition reflects the importance of preserving theindependence and mobility of members of Parliament to vote with theirfeet when they feel it is in the best interests of their…
Occupy Democracy
Theyunderstand there’s been an active, conscious, successful classwar against them in the United States over the past several decades.As they say repeatedly, they are sick and tired of struggling to…
The Samara Report – The Outsiders Manifesto
Samara is anindependent charitable organization, founded in 2008 to study citizenengagement with Canadian democracy. Their work focuses on threeareas: political leadership; the participation of citizens in publiclife; and public affairs…
More Parliamentary Contempt
Dale Smith clearly outlines the Conservativescontempt for parliamentary process – here is his recent post infull.The government introduced its fall budgetimplementation bill today – while the entire Finance Committeeis currently…