I disdain the word gauleiter, or any phraseology that hearkens back to the Nazi era. Yet I'm having a very difficult time trying to figure a way to describe what's been happening the last few days in British Columbia. My fellow Prog Blogs give their two bits here, here, here, here and here. Here's the skinny for those who don't know: The Conservatives don't like the fact that an NDPer represents a certain district, Skeena - Bulkley Valley. That MP's name is Nathan Cullen. So the Conmen have decided to appoint their own "liaison" named Sharon Smith, who is the Mayor of Houston BC and just happens to be the Conservative candidate for whenever the federal election is finally held.
They say having someone from the fourth party "doesn't cut" it when it comes to getting projects done for the home district. They insist only a government hack can get the job done. That's funny logic, because I've been seeing more done with someone out of government in the last year in a half in my home district of Hamilton Mountain represented by an NDPer, Chris Charlton, than happened in the previous thirteen when someone in the Liberal government was the MP here. And I'm saying that as a Liberal. Someone elected represents all the people in the district regardless of affiliation. They present petitions to Parliament even if they themselves disagree with the content, for instance. They have the ability to walk up to a responsible Minister right on the House floor for specific requests. They procure congratulatory messages and other greetings from the higher-ups even if it's someone from the other side. No liaison is necessary, because that MP is the liaison.
What are these guys trying to attempt? Divide Canada into an us-vs-them confederation of exclaves? Some have suggested that this is entirely unconstitutional as only the people can choose who represents their district in Ottawa, and I agree with that connotation.
This kind of trickery is completely intolerable. The Cons have only one aim, a permanent far-right wing majority, but to get there they need a temporary dictatorship which is what is really what's happening here. Having someone place a district entirely under their control with a marionette beneath them while that someone or his or her superior pulls the strings. Marionette is too kind a word, gauleiter too harsh -- but there has to be a word to describe this one.
What Canada needs is proportional representation which would ensure a permanent minority Parliament. That would have stopped this kind of chicanery from happening in the first place.
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