A few interesting Canadian/Winnipeg-ian political developments:

The right has united. Why don't all the parties unite and we can do away with voting altogether?

The Mayor's office has posted a tax calculator for Winnipeg's new tax deal. I understand that tax reform is needed, but I am less than impressed with this deal.

British Columbia has launched an experiment in direct democracy. I couldn't find any net-based info on this one so I'll quote from the Winnipeg Free Press:

"The government has banned politicians and experts from the process, and instead has empowered a citizens committee to look at ways in which the electoral system could be reformed so as to ensure the composition of the legislature better reflects the wishes of voters than often occurs in first-past-the-post systems. (...) It is expected that one year from now this committee, made up 158 ordinary people selected at random from the voters list and who are willing to take part, will propose some form of proportional representation, but perhaps not; the committee is not obliged to seek change."

Hmmm. Re-reading the above, I'm not sure I'm comfortable with taking this blog into the political discussion realm. I just don't have the time to properly research the topics at hand and provide well thought out commentary on the issues. Geez, that says a lot for democracy, doesn't it? Who really has the time to research and make informed political decisions these days? (Other than politicians...)

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