On prejudgment

Apparently we don't need to actually hold federal elections. Instead, Stephen Harper's hand-picked lobbying commissioner has helpfully decided to eliminate all but two parties from the ballot for her purposes:

Several (lobbyists) say they were told by Ms. Shepherd’s office that there would be no obvious conflict of interest if they were to work for the New Democrats because the NDP has no chance of forming government, but any work for the Liberals or the Conservatives could, potentially, create problems.

Of course, it's all the worse that Shepherd's advice looks to be as inaccurate as it is ill-advised - since even the man who appointed her can talk about little else but the prospect that the NDP may form part of a federal government in the near future.

But more importantly, it's utterly inexcusable for a supposedly neutral regulator to be presuming to know better than Canadian voters what the result of the next federal election might be. And Shepherd's eagerness to make partisan judgments looks all too likely to reflect what Harper seeks in his appointments.

(h/t to pogge.)