Publication Source: iPolitics.ca
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Author: Colin Horgan
Green Party leader Elizabeth May is profiled in the current issue of The Walrus, where she weighs in on parliamentary procedure and decorum — two of her favourite issues. The profile, which touches on May’s upbringing and life as an environmental activist, centers mostly on whether May – “the country’s hardest-working politician” – can actually change political culture in Ottawa.
From the issue:
[May] believes civility can be established as a tipping point in the practice of politics. Heckling “tunes people out of their democracy,” she says, and if MPs behave more respectfully, Canadians might tune back in. It’s a long shot, and idealistic. Interim Liberal leader Bob Rae, who views May through the experienced lens of his years as a parliamentarian, says civility is “a nice thought.” But in the face of an implacable government, “it’s hard not to throw snowballs at the car,” he says. “There’s a sense that it’s one of the things you have to do in order to get any attention. Now, Elizabeth doesn’t do that, but she has relatively few interventions that she can make in the House.”