Busy week for democratic manipulation

It has begun. The Liberals have started
manipulating their nominations to increase female candidates. These past few days have also seen the Greens reject a candidate and, of course, Dion and May choosing not to field candidates in ridings.

Before I discuss Dion and the Liberals' creative approach to democracy, I'll deal with Potvin. If I don't, I'll have Liberals in here trying to equate the two. I will assume everyone is familiar with the comments he has made. Dumping his candidacy is expected, and should in fact be applauded. After all, why should the Green Party use their time and money to try to elect a candidate who contradicts their views?

Andrew Coyne has raised the point (although I suspect cynicism) "What about all those disenfranchised anti-imperialists and 9/11 conspiracy theorists in Vancouver Kingsway? Shouldn't they get the nutter they nominated?" Absolutely! He can run as an independent. He'll be one of the few candidates actively pursuing the paranoid-nutbar vote!

Dion, however, is not faced with candidates who contradict the Liberal platform. He is rejecting people based on their gender. We have laws against those things. Laws the Liberals claim they will defend to the ends of the Earth.

Dion's theme this week seems to be "the electorate is too stupid to do what we want, so we'll do it for them." It was the message behind withholding a candidate in Central Nova (I talk about that in my previous post). Now, it's the message forcing more women to be nominated. If you want more female candidates, send them professionals to support their nominations. But let them win democratically. Dion has just screwed every Liberal in Central Nova, and now he's screwing over the Liberals who have been campaigning for months to win nominations.

Currently, Dion has power over the Liberal Party and little more, and this is how he treats Liberals. This man wants us to make him be Prime Minister of Canada?