Sunday, September 23, 2007

Referendum

"Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time." (Winston Churchill, from a House of Commons speech on Nov. 11, 1947)

Since Paul Martin’s election victory in 2004, our country has been governed exclusively by minority parliaments. It was foreseeable; there are too many parties. With the right now united, the Greens grabbing 10% of the vote and the Bloc still guaranteed half of the Quebec seats, no party can hope for more than a third of the vote.

Of course, this will all change soon enough. It isn’t the first time that we’ve had successive minority parliaments, and they’ve always eventually been replaced. It could be the Bloc that dies –though I doubt it-, or the Liberals take a new drop in the polls. But rest assured, something will give.

At the moment though, all I can say is: get moving!

I’m just so sick of Minority Governments. They’re useless, confrontational parliaments that make for never-ending debates and force parties to play cheap politics to keep themselves alive. They make governments unresponsive and indecisive. And with reason. How can anyone expect a majority consensus to be reached between members of a team that each cultivate completely opposite and irreconcilable views.

What we need now is a strong majority government that can target a few specific issues with the full support of the house. And if this government is not appreciated, it can be replaced in the next election.

Do we believe in democracy because it’s right, or because it works? We embrace democracy because it works; because it consistently produces successful countries.

The next provincial elections in Ontario will also contain a referendum question about changing the current first-past-the-post electoral system. I have already compared the Westminster system to proportional Rep. so I won’t go through the arguments once more. I just wanted to advise my dear Ontarian readers, when making their voting choice, to think with their brain rather than their heart.

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