Democracy turns 250 in Canada amid debate over state of country's politics

[Blue_Tires]

Source: The Canadian Press

HALIFAX - As Nova Scotia marks the 250th anniversary of the birth of democracy in Canada on Thursday, there are signs that the country's political system is in rough shape - less than two weeks before a general election.

A lobby group called Democracy Watch announced it's challenging the legality of the election, a new poll suggests more young people plan to avoid voting, and a group pushing for electoral reform argues many Canadians wasted their vote in 2006.

And that was just on Wednesday.

Still, one of the men behind the $10-million Democracy 250 celebration, former Nova Scotia premier John Hamm, and two experts on Canadian democracy argue that while our democratic institutions are flawed, they are still the envy of the world.

"It's worth the investment when you have a national celebration that allows Nova Scotians to throw out their chests in pride and say to Canadians, 'We've done something great for this country,' " said Hamm, who served as Conservative premier from 1999 to 2006.


Read more: http://www.metronews.ca/edmonton/canada/article/120227

[TrogL]

1. The election is legal within the letter of the law

...if not the spirit.

They've got two weeks to get it overturned which means that's not gonna happen.

The election is such a yawner I suspect may people won't vote, which often leads to surprises.

[pattmarty]

2. Hey, and I wouldn't mind a little bit of "Canadian Democracy".