Ottawa

Engineered confusion

Channeling her father, Eugene Forsey’s daughter attempts to undo the misconceptions of our democracy that resulted from (or contributed to) December’s unseemliness.

Poor Dad! In the eighteen years since his death, ignorance of Canada’s system of government has proven to be a growth industry, involving the media, various academics and many of the politicians themselves. The result is that much, if not most, of what passes for fact on the subject of Parliament, minority government, prorogation, elections and so on, is actually completely false. Worse yet, much of it is subversive of our Constitution and frankly dangerous to “peace, order and good government.”

Eugene Forsey’s sainted text—How Canadians Govern Themselves—is available online.

(Helen Forsey links via Christopher Moore’s history blog.)