You Down with MMP?

Those opposed to MMP got a nice fat bit of media attention this morning from the launch of their campaign.

The principle talking-points this morning seemed to center on a couple of ideas. One was that MMP would mean that the "backroom" types of political parties would control the list of candidates. Anyone who knows anything about contemporary Canadian politics knows that a candidate favoured in the backroom can find a nice safe seat in which to run. Riding associations themselves are highly susceptible to being taken over by all manner of special interest groups and/or lackeys for a particular candidate.

I fail to see how MMP would make this worse.

Just as I fail to see how minority governments (the second concern of the no-MMP crowd) would make things worse. Given that Canadian governments are increasingly the creatures of the first minister's unelected advisors, maybe having to justify this policy or that decision to a coalition partner might actually be healthy. Most backbenchers are all too eager to toe the party line in hopes of getting some real responsibility in the government.

Jim has more.

Scott has more.