Hey, you promised to stop whining about first-past-the-post--or was that only for British Columbia.
I don't recall ever making such a promise, although I have recognized that electoral reform is a dead issue for the foreseeable future. Tell you what MF, you quit whining about what you call "socialism" and I'll quit whining about our dysfunctional electoral system.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Macfury
Class, I present you with a prime example of "magical thinking" plucked from the internet.
Having a minority government that abuses parliamentary procedures to make itself into a de facto dictatorship makes us look like a banana republic. It's an embarrassment.
It sure would be if that were happening, thankfully it isn't.
Location: Aylmer (Gatineau) across the river from Ottawa
Posts: 16,065
Quote:
Originally Posted by bryanc
I think one of the greatest things about Canada ought to be our open and transparent government, where representatives debate the issues of the day. Having a minority government that abuses parliamentary procedures to make itself into a de facto dictatorship makes us look like a banana republic. It's an embarrassment.
What constitutes an "abuse" of Parliamentary procedure?... Highly subjective to say the least. If it were truly an abuse then it would be disallowed.
Is it an abuse of Parliamentary procedure for the Liberals to support a Bill in the House (for political optics) that they know full well will be rejected by their members in the Senate, stonewalling and amending Bills that the elected MPs passed? One could most certainly say yes, but this is political strategy and as long as it is within the rules, it is fair game.
__________________
WARNING: If you see links to ads in the above post, blame the ad-linking software used by the owners of this website. I do not endorse these links. Don't click on them.
I don't recall ever making such a promise, although I have recognized that electoral reform is a dead issue for the foreseeable future. Tell you what MF, you quit whining about what you call "socialism" and I'll quit whining about our dysfunctional electoral system.
Too late for a deal now!
Quote:
Originally Posted by GratuitousApplesauce
Not magical, just experience old bean.
As governments get older, the chance of a scandal becomes more likely. But not necessarily a scandal that will cause them to lose an election.
__________________
"My life is my own."
WARNING: If you see links to ads in the above post, blame the ad-linking software used by the owners of this website. I do not endorse these links. Don't click on them.
I thought you didn't like democracy based on your recent posts about the Governor General and the efficiency of the communist system in China.
__________________
"This party will not take its position based on public opinion polls. We will not take a stand based on focus groups. We will not take a stand based on phone-in shows or householder surveys or any other vagaries of pubic opinion."
I'm not in the least embarrassed. What IS embarrassing is when Canadian politicians from any level of government go abroad and start bad mouthing their own country to try and score brownie points. I cringed every time May, Miller or McGuinty opened their mouths.
There has been zero co-operation from any of the opposition parties. They have had only one thing in mind, bring down the government. Heck, Layton was talking about not voting for a budget he hadn't even heard yet. All Iggy has spoken about is defeating Harper and getting himself elected. Talk about playing politics. Not one of that bunch has thought about what is good for the Canadian citizens.
I don't have any problem with parliament sitting quiet for awhile until the Olympics are over. I hope the idiots have the good sense to keep their yaps shut while the world's eyes are upon us. While I'm not a huge fan of the Olympics I do recognize it is a special event that comes to our great country only once in a while. I'd love to see everyone forget about politics for a short time and get behind our athletes who have trained so hard for this. Come the beginning of March a new session of Parliament will open. Kindergarten class can get back to squabbling at that time.
Good post adagio. The opposition can whine all it wants but it has done very little to cooperate with this government. In fact, the opposite is true given what the three opposition parties tried to pull one year ago.
I still remember Jack Layton's statement the day after Harper first got elected. He immediately shot down any idea of negotiating and cooperating with the Conservatives.
__________________
"This party will not take its position based on public opinion polls. We will not take a stand based on focus groups. We will not take a stand based on phone-in shows or householder surveys or any other vagaries of pubic opinion."
__________________
"This party will not take its position based on public opinion polls. We will not take a stand based on focus groups. We will not take a stand based on phone-in shows or householder surveys or any other vagaries of pubic opinion."
As governments get older, the chance of a scandal becomes more likely. But not necessarily a scandal that will cause them to lose an election.
Their time will come, sooner or later. ( I'm hoping sooner. ) It's just the nature of politics and politicians, left, right or centre. Some selfish, greedy power-monger, or a series of them, will step too far over the line for standard damage control to contain. And their opponents will promise a new dedication to ethics and transparency.
Their time will come, sooner or later. ( I'm hoping sooner. ) It's just the nature of politics and politicians, left, right or centre. Some selfish, greedy power-monger, or a series of them, will step too far over the line for standard damage control to contain. And their opponents will promise a new dedication to ethics and transparency.
Regardless of their politics, somebody somewhere is bound to eventually do something stupid. The question becomes, are those isolated incidents, or are they somehow systemic with a party/government. Unless a solid connection of the latter is made, it has no effect on the ability of the government to stand.
Linear Mode
