A Perfectly Cromulent Politics Blog
When procrastinating from law school, I write about politics, tech, or whatever else I'm interested in. Feel free to tweet me up (@devinjohnston).
When procrastinating from law school, I write about politics, tech, or whatever else I'm interested in. Feel free to tweet me up (@devinjohnston).
Posted by Devin Johnston on January 5th, 2010
I will have a lot to say about the suspension of representative democracy shortly. Today, I want to talk about what happens when Parliament resumes. As I see it, the opposition parties have three options:
Posted by Devin Johnston on December 14th, 2009
Earlier this afternoon, a friend and classmate (who is politically conservative), sent me a link to this article by Ezra Levant and asked for my thoughts on whether the government's documents relating to the Afghan detainee torture scandal should be disclosed to the opposition. I fired of a quick reply, as follows (edited slightly for spelling).
Posted by Devin Johnston on December 12th, 2009
On today's installment of "Then and Now", we look at the evolution of Stephen Harper's thinking in relation to government transparency and public accountability. I remember working on the 2005-2006 federal election campaign. When it ended, I was disappointed that the Conservatives won, but happy that the Liberals lost. At the time, the Liberals were embroiled in a massive corruption scandal that shook the public's confidence in government. The Harper Conservatives swept to power on a compelling platform of government transparency and accountability. At least, I thought, we will finally have a government that is honest and open with the public.
Posted by Devin Johnston on December 5th, 2009
Posted by Devin Johnston on December 2nd, 2009
Yesterday, the opposition parties in the House of Commons passed a motion to call a public inquiry into the transfer of Afghan detainees by Canadian forces. According to the Toronto Sun, "the majority motion will most likely be ignored by the governing Conservatives." While most Canadians have generally come to expect this type of political arrogance from Stephen Harper, there was something very interesting about Jack Layton's response:
If Stephen Harper simply ignores the will of Parliament, expressed by a majority of elected members, to have a public inquiry, I think he’s showing contempt for Parliament and contempt for the Canadian people who elected that majority to the House — and that he prefers instead to cover up the truth.
