In this country we elect our dictators, other countries just appoint them. I don't know if he is referring specifically to the ancient Roman practice of having Senators appoint a leader to rule during emergencies, or whether he's just being stupid. But I have suspicions.
4 comments:
Not a fan of Murdoch at all, but his last point is valid. Just look at Harper. MPs (and MPPs) are almost powerless if the Prime Minister / Premier wants them to toe the party line. In theory the Parliment should be supreme but I think influenced by the US media, many Canadians fail to appreciate the difference between a president and a PM.
@ZH..the only person who fails to make that differentiation is Mr. Harper himself.
Not a fan either, that said Murdoch is playing to a gripe that is very legitimate.That being the near total lack of community control over what happens in their community. For example 100 % of the people of a particular community/district can be against a particular industry setting up in their community all to no avail.Doubt me, check out the imposition of industrial pig farming in Eastern Quebec and Ontario. The community(s) have no say period and this is by design.
So in a sense there is no real democracy.
There are obvious problems with wanting people to toe the party line all the time... but sometimes with people like Rob Anders you've got to wish that the leash was on a bit tighter. ;)
Anyway, there has to be a balance between slavish devotion a leader and pork barrel politics/referendum madness.
In the case of the wind turbines, which Murdoch objects to on health concerns... it may be solved by getting communities involved (the more support for windmills, the less health effects in the community). As well, making the whole thing an urban-rural fight is dumb. There are windmills about to be built off the shoreline of Toronto and there are people in the city who are mad about this too. It would be smarter of him to enlist them in the discussion... but then it wouldn't fit Murdoch's easy narrative.
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