A view of Canadian politics from Down Under

Could it be that the arrival of warmer weather has stirred Walt's Canuck agents from their hibernal slumber? Agent 26, whom I hadn't heard from in a coon's age, writes:

You know where I stand on our present government’s attitude toward democracy. Forgive me for being passionate [How Canadian is that?! Ed.] but I thought you would be interested to see what others think of what’s happening in Canada.

She refers to "Canada watches its democracy erode", an article in the Australian by Ramesh Thakur, who was Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations, 1998-2007, and is now a professor of political science at the University of Waterloo and adjunct professor, Institute of Governance, Ethics and Law, Griffith University.

Prof. Thakur's article is too long to quote here in its entirety, but four paragraphs demand to be "retweeted", or whatever the technoterm is.

Edmund Burke noted that all that was necessary for evil to triumph was for good men to do nothing. Canadians are certainly good and worthy folks, but they suffer an excess of civil obedience, politeness and lack of civic rage that could be harnessed to combat political atrophy. At a time when Arabs risk life and limb for political freedoms, Canadians seem largely apathetic about the erosion of their democracy.

The centralisation of power in the hands of the prime minister and political staffers - with the resulting diminution of the role and status of cabinet, parliaments and parliamentarians - is common to Anglo-Saxon democracies in Australia, Britain, Canada and the US, but the extent to which constitutional conventions, parliamentary etiquette and civil institutions of good governance have been worn away in Canada is cause for concern....

Little wonder Globe and Mail columnist Lawrence Martin describes the government's "arc of duplicity" as "remarkable to behold". What remains unclear is whether this adds up to an indictment of Canadians' indifference to democratic rights being curtailed or of the opposition parties, which have failed to harness the silent majority's outrage.

As Canadians head for the polls in early May, it remains to be seen whether Liberal Party charges of the Harper government being obsessed with secrecy, control, spin and attack ads will resonate with voters. Until then, Oh Canada, we cry our hearts for thee.

Please click on the link to read the entire piece. And if you're Canadian, don't forget this on election day!