POP Quiz for Democracy fans!

Cabinet ministers are not "beholden" to the prime minister's authority--they have a moral obligation only to their constitutents and the people of Canada. This is not an esoteric point, nor is it, as Bram Kivenko asserts, an accepted practice of government; rather, the total obedience of cabinet to the prime minister is a convention that many Canadians have cynically come to expect, yet nevertheless understand as fundamentally wrong. The Green party advocates democratic reform, and the Prime Minister's talk of ministers working "for him" is an unmistakable sign, which will not be lost on most Canadians, that such a renewal is urgently needed.

This is but one small example of the ever increasing lack of respect for democracy by this regime, it clearly shows the mindset of Mr Harper and the PMO. We (and for that matter other political parties) can have all the “policies” we want but if our democratic systems are eroded to the point where every decision becomes a “crisis” then such policies will never see the light of day. Thank you Elizabeth for picking up on this, please keep fighting for our democracy as you have been for some time.

The Liberal's weak point with the Public is their record of corruption, or the auditor general's politically correct term; 'culture of entitlement'. And of course their other weakness is a leader who is at home in academia, and not in politics.

Harper's weak point with the Media and the Public is the growing perception/awareness that he is ruling like a 'dictator' by his many actions; to circumvent parliament, intimidate the civil service, cutting funding to initiatives that don't serve his evangelical right-wing dogma, and his micro-managing/silencing of his party members.

Regardless of the analytical reality, any action or statement from him that feeds into this image - should be exposed and exploited to the maximum.  One can debate about how much this benefits the GPC verses other parties, and what are the real crucial issues. But preventing Harper from getting a majority is an absolute priority, at least in my view.

Mr. Kivenko declares:

"My problem is that this is a comment from our leader herself when someone else could have made the same remark."

Why? This is absolutly the role of leader, as the prominent voice of the party. Both within the party and without.

Mr Kivenko deems the subject of democracy too obscure an interest for Canadian voters, and it seems he is right. Look no further than the turnout numbers. The conservatives beat up on our system frequently, and are rewarded for it. But only because no one else is calling them out. That is the role of opposition parties, and they are clearly falling down on this. In his own blogs, he states that

"...I'd like the GPC to actually take on opportunities to make things happen."

Well one of the ways we do that is to steer the national dialouge in directions we think it should go. Hands up everyone who thinks the other parties would be falling over themselves trying to green-up their platforms where it not for our frightening ability to draw their base out from under them.

And when the sitting government hands us a gem like that, we should pounce. We are the only party with a comitment to democratic reform, and this is right in line with that messaging. That is, Mr Kivenko, how opposition works.

Craig Pickthorne

Sorry, I don't think I was clear. The party should certainly complain about Harper's comments. As you note, most canadians couldn't care about what transpired because they are disinterested. They do need education but don't want it. As such this issue is not a guaranteed winner -- Ms. May might come across as facetious or be so branded in the media. Ms. May should only be talking when she has known winners. This is how politics is played. Harper normally floats his crazy trial balloons through cabinet ministers first. We need to adopt the same strategy with Ms. May only stepping once we know she has something winning to say. This is politics. Let's start playing by the rules that exist, not the rules we wish existed.