Our broken system won’t be fixed by radical third parties: The U.S. needs a new centrist party now

Donald Trump is now president. His unique approach to politics should not distract us from our real problem on the governance front: American politics has turned tribal.

Despite campaign promises to “drain the swamp” and change the ways of Washington, we predict that the next four years will be business as usual in America’s capital. Sure, there will be a flurry of legislative activity this year. Perhaps there will be some unfunded tax cuts or infrastructure spending. The one thing that can still bring Democrats and Republicans together is passing out goodies now that can be paid for by our children.

Canada’s strict party discipline perverts democracy

In B.C. Premier Christy Clark’s fantasy world, her party’s members in the provincial legislature “frequently” oppose positions she’s taken.

That’s what Clark told voters during the province’s recent election campaign, citing the example of a Liberal MLA who “stood up and said he didn’t support” an amendment to a “forestry bill.”

Political parties should be legally responsible for staffers, says Kingsley

Federal political parties should have a legal responsibility when it comes to the people they hire, including contractors, and how they are trained, says Canada’s former chief electoral officer Jean-Pierre Kingsley.

“You simply cannot say, ‘Well it’s this company that broke the rules and not us,’ when in fact it has an impact on the election. I’ve always thought there should be some form of responsibility attached to the party,” said Mr. Kingsley in an interview with The Hill Times. “If there’s a clear indication that they should have known better, if there’s a clear indication that they did not provide any kind of guidance, that type of thing, then there should be responsibility attached to the political party and that might take legal measures.”

Political parties operate outside Canada's privacy laws

In 2011, about 10,000 people signed a petition addressed to Jason Kenney and his ministry, Citizenship and Immigration, demanding that Alvaro Orozco, a young Nicaraguan who was facing deportation, be allowed to stay in Canada.

Orozco, a gay artist, did avoid deportation, but that petition is back in the news after Kenney sent out an email extolling what the government of Canada has been doing on "gay and lesbian refugee protection."

It startled many in the gay community that a federal minister had their contact information at his disposal. It also pulled back the covers on the use of personal data and, in particular, the lack of Canadian laws governing what personal information Canadian political parties are allowed to keep and exploit, essentially as they see fit.