A PM's work is never done

More fun in Harper Valley: Garth Turner, who was recently turfed out of the Conservative caucus, is ranting about his former leader once again. According to the Globe, Turner claims that the religious right have a pipeline into Stephen Harper's office. He cited a comment by evangelist Charles McVety, who boasted that he could reach the Prime Minister in two minutes flat, any time he wanted.

Turner, according to the Globe, also claims that the Harper government is centrally controlled, with no input accepted from Conservative MPs and no dissent tolerated. Apparently, the Tories' major legislative accomplishments this past year were all created on high: the Clean Air Act, the budget, the income trust legislation and the commitment to action in Afghanistan were presented to the Tory caucus as finished products.

You know, sometimes I feel sorry for Mr. Harper. It must take a lot of work to run Canada all by himself. You get the impression that he is so smart that he is afraid to delegate anything: if someone else does it, he thinks they'll likely do it wrong. I've known managers who were like that.

The problem with having one person create policy - or one very small, select group - is that even the smartest people can't come up with all the right answers. That's why democracy works better than all the other types of government. In a democracy, more people are given the opportunity to influence the government and its decisions. The more input you get, the better the result is.

If Harper continues to try to create policy in a vacuum, he'll make mistakes, which will make voters unhappy. And it won't take too many unhappy voters to push the Conservatives back into opposition. At least, that's what I'm hoping.


Also in today's Globe: a group of Liberal women are accusing the Tories of wanting to keep women barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen. This is more entertaining than television!


And a shout-out to the people of Vancouver, who have had to endure a whole mess of trouble. First, there was a whole lot of rain and mudslides, which led to a boil-water advisory. Then, there was a huge snowstorm: according to the National Post, Vancouver got 9 cm this weekend, which is a record for this time of year, and parts of the Fraser Valley got up to 46 cm. (That's about a foot and a half, for you Imperial types.) Next up, the Big Freeze: the temperature is supposed to drop to -11C tonight. Of course, what constitutes a freeze depends on where you are: in Winnipeg, -11C is nothing.

Meanwhile, in Toronto, it's currently 12C. Okay, the sun has disappeared, and it's not likely to come back this week, or perhaps ever. But we don't have snow, and you do. This is payback for all those beautiful February spring days in Stanley Park. Na na na nyah na.

By the way, here is a weather cam for Vancouver, and a collection of live cams for Toronto and other places in Ontario.