Senate Reform Redux
With a small minority of senators under the spotlight for spending irregularities and the Duffy trial adding a further spotlight on how the unprincipled nominated to that body can cheat…
Parlimentary Reform
Like Lemmings off a Cliff
Canadians who have been taking notice will be aware that C51, the police state law, has past 3rd reading in the house and now goes before the Senate for final…
Electoral Reform – Personal Perspective
After more than 5 years of writing about our declining democracy and having several times reviewed the options open to us should we ever get a government in power willing…
Electoral Reform – The Parties Position
Its sometimes hard to see where the parties stand on any particular issue given the hype, bafflegab and spin that issues from almost all of them at times and the…
A Gift of Democracy for Christmas
For those who may not know Leadnowis “an independent advocacy organization that brings generations of Canadians together to achieve progress through democracy.” They are particularly focused upon building “a stronger…
A Created Crisis?
The whole debate about the reform or abolition of the senate would not be getting the attention it is currently getting were it not for the somewhat overblown concern about…
An Insidious Sickness
Canadian Democracy is sick. It has been showing alarming symptoms for some time now, they range from the inability of a large portion of our MPs to speak out without…
Rules and Conventions, Lies and Punishment
I will not dwell in great length upon the ongoing soap opera that is the ‘Senate Scandal’, there is quite enough commentary out there without my adding to it. I…
Voting for a New Voting System.
Of late there seems to be an increased interest in bringing forward a new way of electing our ‘representatives’ in the House of Commons no doubt brought on by the…
Dysfunctional Legislatures
Is there any such thing as a fully “functional” legislature in Canada? I am starting to wonder. I do not follow all the various provincial maneuverings but it seems to…
Be Careful What You Wish For!
Abolish the Senate? Be careful what you wish for, we all know that it has become highly partisan and some of those appointed feel they are entitled to their entitlements…
Is Politics a Team Sport?
Recently a Conservative MP became the first MP in more than a decade to raise a point of privilege against his own governmentin questioning why he was denied an opportunity…
Stand on Guard
At this time of year as we look back over the previous year and forward to the coming year is also a good time to look at the broader picture…
Unwrap this for Christmas!
I wish I could present you with some uplifting and exciting presents on the democracy front at this time of year but I fear it is not to be, there…
Senate Reform Bill C7
What with all the other stuff going on, not the least of which is the Budget Omnibus Bill which guts environmental regulation and leaves much of the outcomes subject to…
Electoral and Parliamentary Reform (Final)
Conclusion Over the last5 weeks I have outlined some of thepossibilities andchallenges surrounding changes to our Electoralsystem and briefly touched upon some of theissues surrounding Parliamentaryand Senaterules and modernization. It…
Electoral and Parliamentary Reform (part 5)
TheSenate There are generally three views onSenate reform “First, keep our current system. Second, elect ourSenators, and realign where Senators come from in the country (equalrepresentation). Third, simply abolish it.”…
Electoral and Parliamentary Reform (part 4)
Parliamentaryreform There are basically three things thatgovern the procedures in the House of Commons, House Committees andthe Senate – Parliamentary Tradition, the House Standing Orders andthe current PMs willingness to…
Electoral and Parliamentary Reform (part 3)
Electronic Voting Last week I touched upon the subject ofelectronic voting as a means to increase the number of citizens whowould participate in this important part of our democratic processand…
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…