Let me chime in my support for what Christopher Moore has said about how parliamentary democracy ought to work.
On his always insightful blog, he comments on how the Australian government was forced by parliament to modify how it was going to vote on the issue of seating the Palestinian Authority at the United Nations. The prime minister and cabinet wanted one thing; the parliamentary majority wanted something else. The government had to change.
That, folks, is parliamentary democracy. It's not always pretty. It's not even always especially democratic. But that's what we have - or ought to have.
In Canada, our parliamentary majorities don't even do this much. And if you want a background primer (or some Christmas reading) Christopher Moore has you covered on that front too. Check out his not-so-new but still extremely relevant book, 1867: How the Fathers Made a Deal. No, he's not paying me to say this...
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