Our democracy is going down the tube in Canada as best evidenced by the fact that the polls show two-thirds of Canadians are progressive, yet we are now being ruled with an iron fist by the Conservatives.
Our elected representatives do not represent their constituents, but rather vote along party lines. Power in Canada is now concentrated in the Prime Minister’s office and most decisions benefit the corporations and the one per cent, to the detriment of most Canadians. Whether it is more prisons, jet fighters, pipelines, gutting of environmental laws or omnibus bills, the Conservative government is destroying the Canada we once cherished. And now they are giving away our sovereignty by signing a trade deal with China, that will allow this thoroughly undemocratic country to sue any level of government that blocks its ability to utilize our resources. There are solutions possible, but only if we have an electoral system that ensures that each MP is elected with more than 50 per cent of the votes through a run-off election. In order to make sure that the majority of Canadians are represented, the two major progressive parties will have to co-operate so that either one of them, or a coalition of the two, form government in 2015. And to fix the problem of voter apathy we need to make voting mandatory as is done in Australia. More Canadians need to wake up and stand strong to help bring democracy back by opposing the Harper government’s assault on the environment and our rights and freedoms.
Jim Cooperman