“It looks undemocratic that caucus should choose the leader,” acknowledges Campbell Sharman, who teaches politics at both the University of British Columbia and the University of Western Australia. “But if the idea is to produce responsive parliamentary government, then you've got to give the MPs something to do.”
While Ibbitson's column is being promoted by some of those most upset about prorogation, it seems to me that the lesson of his article is Canada's Parliament is comparably dysfunctional whether it meets on January 25th or March 3rd. The only logic I can follow from this hue and cry is that the current instance of proroguing Parliament is the proverbial straw that breaks the camel's back and actually is spurring a grassroots movement towards restoring the vitality of our democratic institutions. Wish it were so, but I remain a skeptic.
0 comments:
Post a Comment