Just as the Trojans learned the hard way to be wary of Greeks bearing gifts – the “gift” in question being the proverbial Trojan horse – so Canadians should be leery about political parties promising to restore their trust in democracy.
The Liberals used that line in 2015, pledging among other things to ensure the election was the last conducted under the first-past-the-post system; that the Access to Information system would be applied to ministerial offices, and an end to the “undemocratic practise” of tabling omnibus bills to prevent Parliament from properly reviewing legislation.
All of those commitments foundered on the rocks of naked political self-interest. Why risk inconvenient questions about the introduction of deferred prosecution agreements aimed at saving one company (SNC-Lavalin), when the provision could be tucked into an omnibus budget implementation bill and rammed through Parliament?
On the eve of the 2019 elections, Donald Savoie, the éminence grise of Canadian public administration, has written a timely book warning that democracy is threatened when it is abused in such a fashion.
The Canada Research Chair in governance at the Université de Moncton describes his tome – “Democracy in Canada – The Disintegration of Our Institutions” – as his magnum opus, which after 45 previous books suggests it is worthy of note.
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See Also:
(1) Muffling a lawyer’s book that looked at the entitlements of Indigenous peoples
(3) Our Gun Control Laws Need To Target Bad Guys With Guns
(4) What happened to Canada’s goal of restoring our role on the world stage?
(5) Here Are the Most Cringe Moments of Justin Trudeau’s Interview with Hasan Minhaj
