Duff Conacher on the problem with "democracy"

On September 22, 2011, CHUO 89.1 FM (Ottawa) The Train's Denis Rancourt interviewed Duff Conacher, Founder and Board Member of Democracy Watch, by phone from Toronto.

The interview was a broad-based discussion about the main systemic and structural problems with Canadian "democracy", with some focus on the upcoming Ontario election.

The macro-level and most damaging problem is the lap-dog culture of Members of Parliament (MPs) who are dependent on party leaders for their jobs (and pensions) and who agree to be servile to the leaders rather than independent thinkers who work for their constituents without compromise.

But there are way more problems than that... We need our establishment/government watch dogs to be like Ontario Ombudsman Andre Marin...

Doug Christie on Free Speech and Duff Conacher on Democracy

Part-I: On April 8th 2010 BC-based lawyer Doug Christie who had just given a speech in the University of Ottawa Tabaret Hall Rotunda during the afternoon joined us by phone as he was waiting for his flight back home. Christie, who had been afraid that his freedom of speech would be limited or even blocked by protesters of the University administration in light of Ann Coulter's recently canceled speech at the U of O expressed surprise and gratitude for the fact that he was able to speak on our campus. He also commented on student activist Marc Kelly's case saying that it was clear to him that an in depth inquiry where all sides could be heard was in order.

Part-II: During the second part of our April 8th show Duff Conacher from Democracy Watch joined us by phone speaking, amongst other things, of federal lobbying ethics. Both Mary Dawson (Ethics Commissioner of Canada) and Karen Shepherd (Commissioner of Lobbying of Canada) were heavily criticized for being lap dogs. The Democracy Watch lawsuit against the Canadian government regarding Prime Minister Harper's disregard for Canada's fixed election law was also reviewed: LINK HERE.

Democracy Watch on Corruption and Dishonesty in Canadian Government

Duff Conacher, Director/Coordinator of Democracy Watch, explains how and why Canada is far from being a model democratic society: ''The system is the scandal.''

Democracy Watch is an eminent Ottawa based organization advocating for democratic reform, government accountability and corporate responsibility. It was the first organization in the world to adopt the name "Democracy Watch".

Democracy Watch is typically cited in the mainstream media one thousand times per year and has had direct input into various government reforms and reform laws.