Tuesday, September 08, 2009

Stephen "Electoral Reform" Harper ...

Remember last fall? When Stephen Harper decided to call a snap election? Yeah, I thought you might.

Well, it seems that someone has seen fit to drag Harper into court for breaking his own fixed election dates law.

"It was exactly the mischief the bill was designed to stop," lawyer Peter Rosenthal, representing Democracy Watch, told Justice Michael Shore.

The only way an election could have been called then was if the government had fallen on a vote of no-confidence, said the group's founder, Duff Conacher.

"We believe that the prime minister should be found accountable because he introduced changes to the law, said they fixed election dates, and then for false reasons called a snap election in violation of those measures," Conacher said outside of court on Tuesday. "And also, we want to prevent future prime ministers from doing the same kind of thing because it’s so unfair."


I agree with the principle that Democracy Watch is arguing, but I don't think they can get much out of it, since the legislation is fundamentally undermined by its own exemptions.

At most, any such judgment is going to be a symbolic slap on the wrist to Harper. Canadians are going to have to punish him for his constant lying and game-playing at the polls.

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