Democracy Gone Astray

Democracy, being a human construct, needs to be thought of as directionality rather than an object. As such, to understand it requires not so much a description of existing structures and/or other related phenomena but a declaration of intentionality.
This blog aims at creating labeled lists of published infringements of such intentionality, of points in time where democracy strays from its intended directionality. In addition to outright infringements, this blog also collects important contemporary information and/or discussions that impact our socio-political landscape.

All the posts here were published in the electronic media – main-stream as well as fringe, and maintain links to the original texts.

[NOTE: Due to changes I haven't caught on time in the blogging software, all of the 'Original Article' links were nullified between September 11, 2012 and December 11, 2012. My apologies.]

Friday, April 26, 2013

Conservatives defeat Liberal motion on free speech in the Commons

OTTAWA - A Liberal motion aimed at enhancing freedom of speech in the House of Commons was defeated Thursday.

The motion failed by a vote of 150 to 96.

The NDP backed the Liberal bid to have statements made by MPs follow an alphabetical list, rather than be determined by the parties.

In the 15 minutes before the daily question period, backbench MPs are given a minute to make a statement on anything they want.

A month ago, Conservative MP Mark Warawa formally complained that his party whip had prevented him from delivering a statement.

Ten of his colleagues backed his arguments, and called on the Speaker of the House to bolster their guarantee of free speech.

Andrew Scheer responded by reminding MPs that they could stand and signal their desire to speak at any time, and that the Speaker alone had the power to recognize them.

During Thursday's vote, none of the Tories who had lobbied for more liberty in the Commons backed the Liberal motion.

Original Article
Source: winnipegfreepress.com
Author: The Canadian Press

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