SoVote

Decentralized Democracy

House Hansard - 214

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
June 15, 2023 10:00AM
Context: House Hansard - 214 - Jun/15/23
Hon. Mark Holland
  • Jun/15/23 4:15:16 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I think the member recognizes well why we have to use time allocation. He can see that the Conservative Party has done everything from faking technical problems to raising point of order after point of order to try to disrupt the House from doing its business. In fact, last Friday, an entire day of Parliament was lost as a result of procedural tricks by the Conservatives, and the leader of the official opposition himself has said that they will do everything to block the ability of the House to do its job. Of course, one party that represents one-third of the seats does not have the opportunity or right to stand in the way of every other party from doing its business. That is most certainly not democratic. The other thing I would point out is that it is the Conservatives' right to make the same point again and again, which is that they are against the utilization of hybrid Parliament, which they have said they would never support under any conditions. They can keep making that same speech again and again, but it is not a restriction of democracy to hear that speech 10, 20, 30 or 40 times. At some point, when they say the same thing, the message is heard. They are against it. I am sorry, but the House is moving forward with this because it is the right thing to do.
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Context: House Hansard - 214 - Jun/15/23
Mr. Marcus Powlowski
  • Jun/15/23 7:28:44 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, as much as it is desirable to have unanimity, the democratic process does not generally require unanimity, because it is that difficult. Maybe this is wrong, but I understand that in Poland there was an absolute democracy that required unanimity in every decision, but that is practically impossible. Therefore, I would suggest that in an example like this, where we are trying to protect a minority, perhaps young women, and allow them to be party to the democratic process, sometimes we have to stand up against the majority. That is the whole purpose of the Constitution. Moreover, if even a majority is not good enough and we need an absolute majority, that is a pretty hard hurdle to bypass. I would say that the ends we are seeking, which are allowing more women and more people with families to participate, are—
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