Over the past year I have written several posts on the woeful state of democratic participation in Canada, a state I am convinced is at least in significant part due to the debasement of our traditions engineered by the Harper regime. Contempt of Parliament and disdain for those whose vision of Canada disagrees with their own are but two elements of that debasement.
I am old enough to remember when there was a measure of civility in politics which, probably not coincidentally, began to seriously erode with the introduction of cameras in the House of Commons in the 70's. At that point, it became the fashion for parliamentarians to begin to grandstand before their viewers, to the point today where poisoned partisanship takes precedence over enlightened and progressive policy-making.
In today's Star Bob Hepburn returns to this theme. His analysis, and his discussion of what seems to be taking the place of political engagement, makes for important reading for anyone concerned about this very worrisome pattern.
What did you expect when the CDN public sat blindly by and let Voter-Gate happen while not chastising or publicly calling out demagogues like Baird et al.
ReplyDeleteLuckily, cycles self-correct so we can only hope for divine light in 2015, led by whoever that might be.
Hope is sometimes all we have, Anon.
ReplyDelete