A blog to give a voice to our concern about the continued erosion of our democratic processes not only within the House of Commons and within our electoral system but also throughout our society. Here you will find articles about the current problems within our parliamentary democracy, about actions both good and bad by our elected representatives, about possible solutions, opinions and debate about the state of democracy in Canada, and about our roles/responsibilities as democratic citizens. We invite your thoughtful and polite comments upon our posts and ask those who wish to post longer articles or share ideas on this subject to submit them for inclusion as a guest post.
Contact us at democracyunderfire@gmail.com

Sunday, July 18, 2010

In a Democracy?


In a Democracy if a government fills a “budget bill” full of non budget items and then stifles debate on it is it still a democracy?

In a Democracy if a government deliberately avoids public and opposition demand for an inquiry into the largest mass arrest of citizens in Canadian history is it still a Democracy?

In a Democracy if a government adds additional tax to high priced essential items (HST to gas, home heating fuel etc) against the wishes of most of the citizens is it still a Democracy?

In a Democracy if a government uses millions of tax dollars in self promotional advertising is it still a democracy?

In a Democracy if a government fails to tell its citizens that their purchases will be subject to a new eco tax prior to its commencement is it still a democracy?

In a Democracy if a government withholds information for “independent” officers of parliament charged with monitoring their actions is it still a democracy?

In a Democracy if a government promises to be open and accountable but is increasingly closed and unaccountable is it still a democracy.

In a Democracy if a government stifles scientific research and reporting necessary for rational decisions to be made is it still a democracy?

In a Democracy if a government “forces” our representatives who are members of their party to vote in lockstep with the party is that democracy?

In a Democracy if a government suspends environmental assessments (for wind farms in Ontario) in the name of being “green” is it still a democracy?

In a Democracy if opposition partys are too scared to oppose a piece of legislation for fear of precipitating an election which they are not assured of winning is it still a democracy?

In a Democracy if our representatives (MPs & MPPs) turn a blind eye to the daily erosion of the democratic processes in this country is it still a democracy?

In a Democracy if a government can dictate to, and select, the members of the chamber of sober second thought (The Senate) is it still a democracy?

In a Democracy if the only input the citizens have is to vote for more of the same every 4 years is it still a democracy?

In a Democracy if citizens feel powerless to make change and would like to vote for “non of the above” is it still a democracy?

In a Democracy do blogs such as this have any impact at all, other that to make the writer feel that he is doing something to stop the demise of our democracy?
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1 comment:

thwap said...

Yeah, but it's a very compromised democracy.

And blogging doesn't do much but create a culture of opposition that you, I and others draw strength from.

But we have to do much more.