Elect Bob Rae in Toronto Centre!

I read with interest Jesse Hirsh's note on how many times our new website was visited by the Privy Council Office. Welcome guys, nice to have your interest.

Mr Harper's "Canada's New Government" has always had a slightly Orwellian feel to it, the central messaging every day, the effort to micro-manage decisions, the media, the cabinet, the provinces, you name it.

Since its adoption by the United Nations General Assembly in 1966, the United Nations International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights has become a cornerstone of international human rights law. It states in part:

“Everyone shall have the right to freedom of expression; this right shall include freedom to SEEK, receive and impart information…” (Emphasis added)

Stephen Harper's decision to call some by-elections in Quebec and not others in B.C. and Ontario is without precedent. How ironic that the one time champion of parliamentary accountability and fixed election dates would use the unreformed law on by-elections as an opportunity to exercise his personal power in a whimsical and arbitrary way. He does it because he can and because he believes he can get away with it.

The excuse of the Ontario election is just that - an excuse. The federal by-elections could have been called, and held long before campaigning began in earnest in Ontario.