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Originally Posted by Red Slinger
The trial itself might be silly and the actual damage done by Duffy and the gang relatively inconsequential. However, the foundation of western democracy (IMO) is an ethical, accountable government.
When you look around the world, one of the factors that distinguishes Canada from a 2nd or 3rd world country is the level of corruption in government. Corruption in government is a very slippery slope. If the ethics of our government aren't consistently, thoroughly, dogmatically, relentlessly monitored and enforced it's a short trip to (for example) an American-style government, which is a short trip to an Italian-style government, which is a short trip to a Morrocan-style government, etc., etc. I'm not suggesting that Canada is in any imminent danger of becoming, like say, Somalia but it's very easy to lose what we value one tiny, incremental, almost unnoticable step at a time.
While is may seem silly, vigilance is paramount even if it seems over the top sometimes.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rubecube
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The truth of that bolded statement and those listed actions that the Harper government has taken to harm Canada's democratic political system are the two biggest reasons to vote against the Harper government. They are the reasons people need to look beyond party platforms in this election. For any Canadian, the negative long-term consequences of this style of governance should far outweigh the short-term consequences of a government whose platform they dislike but which does not undermine the system of governance.
Looking beyond party platform ideals, there is just too much evidence that the actual people who make up the leadership of the Harper government do not respect Canada's political system. The people in leadership have consciously and repeatedly taken actions to centralise power and undermine the functions of Canada's parliamentary democracy.
While of course economic, environmental, social etc. policy issues are all important for Canadians and they are very reasonable to disagree upon and sway votes under regular circumstances, it's much more important to protect a healthy democratic system. This involves voting out people who have demonstrated corruption and who have demonstrated a willingness to abuse the system.
A conservative government made up of people who support conservative ideals and who are respectful of the political and democratic system would not trouble me so much, but the Harper government is not that government. The people in leadership of the party value centralised power and reelection over a transparent and functioning Canadian parliamentary democracy. It is them that need voted out. If that aspect of the party can be cleared out then I could empathise much more with a vote for the conservative party based on party platform, but that is for another election.
I also think that it's very important for Canadians to vote out the people in leadership of the conservative party to demonstrate that respect for Canada's political process is fundamentally more important to Canadian voters than any partisan policies so that all parties are swayed from taking the same approach that leaders in the Harper government have. Continued success of the Harper government's approach to governance endorses practices that erode ethics and accountability by any party in leadership. That is bad for Canada.
The numbers involved in the Duffy investigation aren't so large, but the results coming out are emblematic of what are, to me, the key issues of this election: ethics, accountability and respect for Canada's political system.