Edward Keenan: What Toronto’s new minority-rule mayor says about Canadian democracy
“If there’s one tenet that defines democracy different than any other system, it’s called majority government,” David Crombie — former Tiny Perfect Mayor of Toronto, former federal conservative MP cabinet minister, perpetual symbol of reasonable political consensus — said.” “The idea that you can get rid of it and say ‘trust me’ is bizarre.”
I mean, there’s Alberta’s Danielle Smith, who in her first days as premier is boldly modelling what constitutional expert“the most unconstitutional bill in Canada’s modern history.” Macfarlane says the so-called Alberta “sovereignty act” is “a full-frontal assault on not only the very idea of federalism and the constitutional division of powers but also on responsible government and representative democracy.
Though he backed off his most recent attempt to do so, he has also been conducting a shock-and-awe campaign of legislation overturning various elements of Ontario municipal democracy while giving away lucrative development opportunities to various corporate interests. If Quebec’s government led the way in showing how to disregard democratic norms, its people seem to be leading the way in public acceptance of that trend. Anfound a “significant minority” of Canadians “showing enthusiasm” for authoritarianism — specifically, those agreeing they want or at least are open to “a strong leader who does not bother with Parliament or elections.” That anti-democratic sentiment was strongest in Quebec, where 43 per cent of people don’t oppose such an strongman system .
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