Beyond The Commons

 Beyond The Commons

Aaron Wherry covers all the goings-on in and around Parliament Hill. Follow Aaron on Twitter: @aaronwherry

Categories: Beyond The Commons, Capital Read

How our MPs live

by Aaron Wherry on Friday, December 10, 2010 4:12pm - 19 Comments

More pressing than the crumbling nature of our democracy may be the crumbling nature of the buildings that house our democracy.

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  • kcm

    It's easy to see who sits below the salt in this house.

  • Emily

    Build a new uniquely Canadian one in Winnipeg, center of the country….with state-of-the-art security and electronics….and tear down that gothic monstrosity in Ottawa.

    • Andrew (not PorC)

      Why build a new Parliament in Winnipeg? Ottawa is the capital.

      • Emily

        And where is that written in cement?

        • Andre

          It is written in stone though, right on parliament hill.

          And why would the english bourgeois want to move tens of thousands of government jobs the least loyal part of the country.?

          • Emily

            So get rid of the stone.

            Ottawa was picked in 1857, before we were even a country and long before our much expanded country of today..

            Manitoba is disloyal?

          • Andre

            In the english psyche, every Manitoban pledges allegiance to Louis Riel.

          • Emily

            Oh puleeze…that's as outdated as the word 'bourgeois'.

          • MostlyCivil

            "In the english psyche, every Manitoban pledges allegiance to Louis Riel."

            No, every Manitoban pledges to get the hell out of Winnipeg as soon as we can. Oops..tipped my hat there…

          • http://stumblingabordeaux.blogspot.com Pato31

            Just because I got outta there doesn't mean I don't wanna go back!

          • MostlyCivil

            Indeed. I could sell my house here, move back and live like a king. Except for that whole "job" thing…

          • http://stumblingabordeaux.blogspot.com Pato31

            Get Riel!!!

          • sourstud

            What the hell?

    • Dave

      Arviat is the centre of the country.

      • Emily

        LOL don't nitpick. It's smaller than a village.

        • LdKitchenersOwn

          Bigot.

  • hollinm

    Crumbling of democracy? How does that work in a Parliamentary Democracy where the government is in the minority. If Wherry and his ilk like Susan Riley think democracy is in jeopardy then they should convince their buddies that are occcupying the opposition benches to vote non confidence.
    Then we will see whether Canadians believe our democracy is in jeopardy.
    This accusation about democracy being thwated is assinine. The Libs have used all the powers granted for years and there was not a peep from the left wing. It was their right I am sure. However, let a Conservative PM exercise the same powers democracy is suddenly going to hell in a hand basket.

    • wellwell

      Wrong thread … this one's about renovations to the Parliament buildings.

      • hollinm

        I was referring to the heading of the column. This thing about "crumbling nature of our democracy" is plain silly. This seems to be a meme that is appearing in the media more often. The problem is the Conservative government is in control and it drives the left wing media and supporters of the opposition crazy so they are ratcheting up the rhetoric trying to create the impression that the tools the government uses are somehow illegitimate despite having been in place for 100+ years.

        The latest Ipsos poll shows that nothing is working for the opposition parties as Canadians are not buying what they have to offer. If this poll is the beginning of a trend watch for the rhetoric to get even more extreme.

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