Thursday, January 28, 2010

Recalibrating democracy

John Baglow talks about prorogue reform in the context of overall "democratic recalibration". The first part of the article is a critique of Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff's proposal for changing the rules of prorogation. Baglow favors the NDP's proposal that "Parliament, as an assembly of the people's representatives, should decide as a body if and when it will rise."

Ignatieff offers no shape, no sides
There's another problem, too, and one of more immediate consequence. With the current groundswell of public concern about Canadian democracy, this is precisely the time when fundamental democratic reform as a whole should be up for review: the electoral system, the question of the Senate (elected or abolished), checks and balances to offset the entire range of the Prime Minister's considerable powers, and so on. Call it a democratic recalibration.

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