Political junkies and Trekies

The last week has been like a drug to an addict for political junkies like me.

Every day, almost every hour, brings a new development. The blogosphere is on fire and my emails include comments that civil unrest and rioting will follow the Governor General's decision to suspend, or not to suspend, Parliament.

Junkies like me are hooked.

But the world is not made up of political junkies. Indeed, very few Canadians are political junkies -- I'd venture a bet that we are significantly outnumbered by Trekies.

But there is a significant difference between political junkies and Trekies; the Bloc exists and the Borg do not.

Even if politics bores Canadians government is acknowledged as necessary, especially in bad times.

That's why suspending Parliament is such a bad idea -- it may be good politics for the Conservatives but it's bad government. We have a Westminster system and that means the government is those who have the confidence of the House. Stephen Harper knows this -- that's why he asked to take over from Paul Martin without an election (when he'd have to rely on the Bloc for support). I'm not sure how the spin is working but we need a functioning government and for now that means Mr. Harper needs to step aside.

The politics is exciting for people like me but it hurts the nation.

The end of Atlantis springs to mind.

Atlantis was a rich and wealthy land. But it continued to exist only by the sufferance of the gods. Tragically, pretenders to the Throne fought amongst themselves seeking power but not hearing the rightful demands of the people. Seeing this the gods became angry and Atlantis is no more.


James Morton
1100 - 5255 Yonge Street
Toronto, Ontario
M2N 6P4