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Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Some necessary truths about parliamentary convention

Really, it's not fair that pogge does most of the heavy lifting while I just swoop in, package his hard work with some off-the-cuff snark and then sit back and watch, but then who ever said life was fair?

[Insert random Iggy joke]

Anyway, dude's once again done some remarkable public service by pointing to a recent symposium exploring some of the possibilities should no party manage to secure a majority in the next parliament. I won't try reproducing it here, but it's very much in line with the efforts by eminent constitutional scholars such as Peter Russell and Ned Franks to debunk the bullshit Harper's been spouting.

It goes right back to the most fundamental principles of our parliamentary system: We elect MPs. We don't elect the Prime Minister. The mandate to govern depends on securing the confidence of Parliament. Period.

Stephen Harper's insidious faux-populist campaign of lies and misrepresentation has undermined that, and that's just part of his overarching toxic effect. After years of pissing on our national character, diminishing our tradition, undermining our society and everything we've spent generations building, the damage he's done is finally becoming clear.

Again, full props to Johannes Wheeldon, blogging at pogge's place, for pointing to a wonderfully concise guide to Harper's lies about parliamentary convention, and the corresponding truths. Thanks to Helen Forsey for that.

Don't care if it's Jack, Iggy, or a three-headed mutant. Our first priority has to be ridding ourselves of this lying, autocratic, power-drunk, mean-spirited son of a bitch.

(Yeah, yeah. I'll relax when I can stick a fork in this mofo.)

Update: post edited to reflect pogge's comment below.

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1 comment:

  1. That's not me. That's our newest author, jwheeldon, whom you can find in more formal venues under his more formal name, Johannes Wheeldon.

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