A UVic political scientist is wrong to call the B.C. Liberals’ move “undemocratic”
The B.C. Legislature will not sit this fall, as the governing Liberals have opted to wait until the winter to call a session. They will have a throne speech, introduce a budget and head straight into election mode. A vote will be held in May. I bet advocates of fixed election dates didn’t see this as a potential consequence.
The opposition NDP is predictably fuming as they want to hold the Liberals to account for their carbon tax.
And more predictably, one University of Victoria political science professor calls the move “fundamentally undemocratic,” according to the Globe and Mail. The Liberals might be acting decadent or putting strategy ahead of accountability, but the charge of being “undemocratic” is meaningless. When legislation we don’t like is passed it is “undemocratic.” When a politician refuses to speak to the press, it is “undemocratic.” When the government refuses to meet with the opposition, it is “undemocratic.” Our electoral system is “undemocratic.” Anyway, you get the point.
Perhaps stricter regulations could be put in place that mandate more clearly when the legislature should sit. Perhaps not. I’m assuming of course that the legislature is just closed and has not been burned down.
In any event, the reasoning the Liberals provided is that they have no important legislation to introduce. Seriously? There might be some people denied entrance into Capilano College University. There is probably some high schools kicking around Vancouver that could be upgraded to meet the demand.