hi. Sounds like an excellent project. Good luck with your work. Doug

Great to see Boulder take a lead in this area.

Doug

I unfortunately won't be as eloquent as the author nor some of the responders here, so i shall respond quickly.

We are in a time when the internet allows a large percentage of the population to participate. Whether that participation is meaningful - as say this discussion - or is grossly biased - as say in the tea party movement - it is dialogue and, uniquely, dialogue that has not been held ever at this level. I would suggest we have come closer to the American ideal of free speech than ever before.

This dialogue of the masses of course brings about upsides and downsides. Electronic lynch mobs are a reality, such as is the concern about the opening up of parliamentary accounts to the masses. Yet, why not? Sure, it will be a mess initially, but this is not happening without context. We have a government which has been described as the most non-transparent, controlling, dictatorial government we have ever had. The response I would suggest is a fair balance to this. As happened in Britain when the accounts were opened up, we might see all parties take a hit, thus further the disillusionment of the masses, OR, perhaps as happened in the recent market meltdown, Canadian's might discover that our oversite and regulatory systems aren't that bad.

As is often said, we are in interesting times, and I would suggest as others have that government and governance is fundamentally changing. The concerns expressed here are important, but we should not truncate the process, but let it ride and see what we come out with. A few bruised MP egos are small price to pay for more representative democracy.

ATTACK is now gone --- will be leaving facebook.

Dear Secretary General,
I am writing to give you the proverbial heads up on Canada and its international commitments.

I read your recent letter to our Prime Minister, and just wanted to warn you that climate change is not really high on Mr. Harper’s agenda. You see, he has expressed his skepticism about the existence of climate change – this was even before the failed Copenhagen meeting. Mr. Harper is from a province that has oil sands – you may have heard of them. I am sure you agree that they are not the most climate change friendly oil resource. Unfortunately, many of Harper’s constituents and ardent supporters are keen on the goings on there (read $s), and would not want him to support such shaky science as climate change. A point to remember – to Mr. Harper all politics are conservative and local ...
http://pradical.org/2010/05/12/open-letter-to-uni...