cdnazzurri

Leafless said: and: So tell me, if it is our interest to preserve Canadian nationalism (which I'm all for), then why the hell should we be following the United States into anything? Yeah, the US is our "best friend" our most important trading partner, but we should at least attempt to find ways to be autonomous and self sufficient. And if we were to go along with US interests, then we would have gone into Iraq as well. However, Afghanistan is not about the US interests, its about the War on Terror and humanitarian intervention. But, regardless of whether you agree with why or how we are there, Canadians should be stepping up and supporting our troops regardless of government bs.

While I respect your opinion, there is no way that taking away press access is a non-issue. THe media (for better or for worse) is where most people get their information about the happenings of governments. As I said in my post upthread, if the PMO is scheduling access times, and dictating what pieces of equipment reporters can use, what can we expect next? Harper distributing ready-made articles for the press to print?

It's one thing to make sure that everyone stays on message and that the government focuses on trying to "clean up". However, it is another to completely limit press accessibility to the point that the PMO sends out memos to the media that states where and when they are allowed to show up, and further to state what kind of equipment they are allowed to use when they get there. Freedom of the press, freedom of association, freedom of assembly anyone? Does this at all sound familiar? Peter McKay was on CTV's Question Period on Sunday and he was completely stiffled: he looked uncomfortable and the information he did give came across as strained. This from a guy who had no problem getting a point across before.

That was my point!

I'm not talking about abolishing party discipline; Canadian legislatures and its representatives are are already chaotic and act like a bunch of spoiled children. However, one only has to look at how the British Parliamentary system to see that Party Discipline is somwhat relaxed. I saw the British House of Commons on CPAC the other day. A member of Tony Blair's own party laid into him in such a way that would probably shock half the politicians in power in Canada. As for looking towards the United States. Yeah, no thanks, its already a lost cause there. I'm more concerned about the destruction of my country.

See, this here is the problem with Canadian democracy and Canadian politics in general. The whole point of a parliament is to question the actions of the prime minister and the govenment. If a MP is repremanded, punished for speaking out against inequities, against the hypocracy that is the Stephen Harper government, that is not democracy. I was angered by the move of Belinda Stronach, and before her Scott Brison to the Liberal party, it was underhanded, so it isn't just a criticism of the Tories. As for Turner, he could run as an independent since his papers won't be signed.