As we gear up for the Conservatives’ policy convention this weekend, one of the policy resolutions on the table is term limits for the party leader, which they propose to cap at eight years should the leader become Prime Minister. While this is an example of the grassroots showing some displeasure at Stephen Harper and his stranglehold over the party for well over a decade, it’s a terrible bit of Americana that people keep trying to import into our system as though it were a panacea to problems that exist here. They’re entirely wrong, however, but they keep trying. Over in the National Post, John Pepall argues that term limits are fundamentally undemocratic because they prevent people from having the choice of electing a popular leader for as long as they like, but while he has a point, I would stress that term limits in a Canadian context are a complete lack of understanding of our system of Responsible Government, which rests on the principle of confidence. After all, term limits are largely unnecessary because our system can dump a prime minister at any point by means of a vote of no confidence – something that can’t happen in the American system, as they don’t have a system based on confidence, but rather on defined terms, with the relief valve of recall elections in some cases. Otherwise, they are forced to wait out a term until the next election, while in a Westminster system, it can happen with a snap vote in the Commons. Of course, we do have the problem in this country particularly around being able to dump a leader who is not the PM because we have moved away from the caucus selecting the leader, to systems of either delegated conventions, one-member-one-vote, or the latest Liberal abomination, the “supporter category.” Caucus selection kept leaders accountable to them, and it kept them in check, whereas they accumulated more presidential powers as the base that elected them grew larger and they felt more empowered by their “democratic mandate.” While leaders can still lose membership reviews by party members (witness Thomas Mulcair), a caucus can still pressure a leader to resign these days by simply making their dissatisfaction public. In most cases, like with Alison Redford, all it takes is a couple of MPs/MLAs with enough of a spine to go public, and the leader sees the writing on the wall. In cases where the leader digs in their heels – as with Greg Selinger in Manitoba – it can become the death knell for that particular government, as we witnessed in that province’s election just weeks ago. But all of these upsets were accomplished without term limits, and respecting the principles of Responsible Government. Trying to graft on Americana will just turn our system into some kind of monstrous chimera that won’t actually be able to function – hell, the changes we’ve made to leadership selection processes so far have already damaged and warped our system and need to be undone. But if Conservative Party members want to actually respect our system of government, they’ll vote down this cockamamie policy proposal with extreme prejudice, and hopefully we won’t have to speak of this again.

Good reads:

• In Japan, Trudeau was in “relationship-building mode” with Japanese automakers, while their PM pressed on the South China Sea and TPP. Oh, and there was Sophie’s spelling mistake.
• Trudeau also announced that he’s taking a day off before the G7 for his anniversary. OH NOES! Here’s a history of other PMs taking days off during foreign travel.
• Two former MPs who were called to the bar of the Commons for grabbing the Mace say that Trudeau’s apology for The Elbowing is sufficient.
• Senator Peter Harder says that it’s possible to pass the assisted dying legislation by the June 6th deadline, and he’s adorable if he thinks that’s going to happen.
• The Crown has decided not to appeal the verdict in the Mike Duffy trial, thus concluding that particular saga.
• That Discover Canada social media ad that features the PM cost $24,000, and the Conservatives keep insisting it breaks the rules even though it’s not for broadcast.
• That the new advertising rules don’t cover social media is seen as a big hole in those rules, incidentally.
• The RCMP wants its members to start wearing body-mounted cameras when use of force is a possibility; note that they don’t yet have a collective bargaining regime.
• It looks like the permanent residence applications for three Chinese telecom workers will be rejected, possibly for espionage reasons.
• Reported sexual assault and misconduct investigations are on the rise in the Canadian Forces, and here is your reminder that official numbers likely don’t reflect reality.
• General Vance says that Canadian military action in Libya is not a given, but they continue to monitor the situation.
• Irving Shipyards is pitching a project to convert a commercial roll-on/roll-off vessel as a ship the military can use for humanitarian missions.
• Susan Delacourt writes about how the proposed new Liberal Party constitution takes its lessons entirely from Stephen Harper.

Odds and ends:

BuzzFeed had some fun with some of the NDP’s poor website design.

The government is appointing a new High Commissioner to the UK, and a new ambassador to Israel.