Democracy, it haunts us still

John Baird objects to Michael Ignatieff’s suggestion that the country might somehow survive an election this fall.

“This guy was a university professor at Harvard, I don’t know a single person with any experience in (government) who would believe him...of course, elections will cause instability,” Baird said...

Baird said “everyone knows” government grinds to a halt during an election campaign. Decisions are not only delayed until the election is over but until a new cabinet is sworn in and politicians get settled into their new jobs, he said. “We are seeing some positive economic signs, but they are fragile...The last thing we need is the political instability an election would cause,” Baird said.

Indeed. Mind you, Canada has, against all odds, so far persevered through the instability of 40 national elections and, depending on the accuracy of my math and Wikipedia’s record keeping, something like 423 provincial or territorial votes.