are you giving us a better choice The Liberal party has engaged in some questionable practices, no doubt about it. But Stephen Harper and Jack Layton are a little confused if they think that voters who traditionally vote Liberal consider the Conservative Party or the NDP a reasonable second choice. Personally, I'm going to be doing more research on the Green Party (see their "10 Key Values").

In my research on democratic reform this semester I learned that the federal government is seriously lacking in any kind of meaningful oversight. As compared to other "Westminster-style" democracies, we have fewer accountability mechanisms in place, and that isn't solely the fault of the Liberal party. Sure, right now they're the ones who got caught taking advantage of the system, but they're not the first to do so. Some may remember the Conservative Party of the early 90s:

Since his retirement from politics, public assessments of Mulroney’s leadership—as expressed in polls—have remained largely negative. This seems to reflect a belief that his government was too free in granting favors to its friends, a reaction to his flamboyant rhetoric that included promises he could not keep, and widespread dislike of the Goods and Services Tax. (from MSN Encarta)

To keep things in perspective we should remember that although the sponsorship gongshow wasted a lot of taxpayer money, the inquiry into it is costing more than double that amount. This is a government system that Canadians have watched evolve over many years and have failed to demand better accountability and democratic mechanisms. Instead of focussing on the corruption of a minor few politicians, we should aim to correct the system that enables such abuse to occur in the first place. Today it's the Liberals, yesterday it was the Conservatives. Who's next?  | ¶ 10:29 p.m.