With Justin Trudeau adding his voice to those of the other leaders in completely misreading how a Westminster democracy works with the formation of government (albeit acknowledging that the incumbent does get the first crack), I think it’s quite apparent we’re in a crisis of civic literacy in this country. While Kady O’Malley gives a refresher here, there was an interesting idea posited by Leonid Sirota that we may be witnessing the birth of a new convention. I’m a bit sceptical about that, and would agree more with Emmett Macfarlane that it may be a political convention as opposed to a legal one, but it should also be a warning signal to our political actors that ignorance of the system, whether genuine or deliberate, does have broader repercussions. The system works the way it does because, well, it works. That’s why it evolved the way we did. To try and move it past that for crass political purposes demeans it, and opens a number of cans of worms that will do nothing more than create problems down the road that will be even bigger headaches. Better to learn and apply the system as it exists, rather than try to change the rules for petty reasons. Also, we need to stop dismissing these kinds of conversations as boring or pedantic because they matter. The rules matter. If we don’t point out what the rules are and that they matter, then it makes it easier for people to break them without anyone raising a fuss.
https://twitter.com/pmlagasse/status/641312992257277953
https://twitter.com/pmlagasse/status/641313435049959424
https://twitter.com/pmlagasse/status/641313802944946176
https://twitter.com/pmlagasse/status/641314338674974720
https://twitter.com/pmlagasse/status/641314592094822400
https://twitter.com/emmmacfarlane/status/641228423038238720
https://twitter.com/emmmacfarlane/status/641228866099417088
https://twitter.com/emmmacfarlane/status/641229200544808960
https://twitter.com/emmmacfarlane/status/641230837434855424
https://twitter.com/emmmacfarlane/status/641231352986124288
@pauldalyesq Or, to put it even more starkly, our elections are in effect becoming presidential ones. Indeed, there are other reasons 1/
— Leonid Sirota (@DoubleAspect) September 8, 2015
@pauldalyesq increasingly leader-centred. Leaders are the drivers and focus of campaigns; parties just vehicles for them. 3/3
— Leonid Sirota (@DoubleAspect) September 8, 2015