Archive 1997-2016
When Canadian pop star Avril Lavigne first released her hit song “Complicated,” one could be forgiven for thinking it dealt with her native country’s political system. After all, the method of selecting leaders employed by many political parties in Canada is not just confusing, it’s also not very democratic.
Ottawa has once again been seized by a spectre – a spectre of a public inquiry. After nearly 20 years, Canadians might finally get some answers in the Airbus affair. Meanwhile, the parliamentary press gallery cannot contain themselves, relieved that something new is haunting Ottawa, aside from Stéphane Dion’s leadership woes.
The recent release of video of Robert Dziekanski’s death after being tasered by RCMP at a Vancouver airport has stacked yet another scandal on an institution already faltering in the public eye.
It seems NDP leader Jack Layton may be holding more political sway in Ottawa these days than the national media often give him credit for. Earlier this month, Layton won the backing of Prime Minister Stephen Harper, to hold a nation-wide referendum on the abolition of Canada’s unelected Senate.