Common issues

The CP reports that while the Cons may have put an end to one lawsuit with their settlement with Alan Riddell, they may soon face claims from Brent Barr and Mark Warner over their terminated candidacies.

Which leads to the inevitable question: how long before the set of Cons aggrieved by the party's undemocratic choices becomes large enough for a class action?

No surprises

At long last, the Cons' contempt for party democracy is getting some of the widespread media attention it deserves. The Chronicle Herald is leading the way with a particularly scathing editorial, while the Citizen and the Star have joined in with prominent ex-Cons in condemning the determination of Harper and company to suppress their party's own grassroots.

What's particularly unfortunate, though, is that anybody seems to be surprised.

It may be new for the Cons to actually dismiss two candidates who had already been nominated. But it was clear as early as last summer that the Cons were going to great pains to prevent riding associations from having any choice of candidates at all. And it surely can't be seen as a particularly large step from denying a riding association any choice to begin with, to simply cancelling the results of such choices based on the whims of the party's central command.

Hopefully the latest examples won't be soon forgotten - and maybe more attention will be paid to the Cons' past actions now that the issue is getting a more widespread airing. But Canadians should know that the recent incidents are part of a general contempt for democracy rather than isolated occurrences...and that the Cons only figure to get worse as long as Harper perceives the party crackdown as helping his political cause.

More non-opposition

Your Liberal Party of Canada in a nutshell: Stephen Harper's supporters are welcomed with open arms, while Harper's opponents risk being pushed out the door.