The outcry over last year’s prorogation of Parliament was one indication that Canadians are not complacent about democracy.
Another more recent example is the apparent ability of Democracy Watch, an independent group that lobbies for more transparent and representative government, to spark interest in its so-called Coffee Party.
Democracy Watch said Friday that, in the first week since its CoffeeParty.ca website went live, it has received more than 85,000 hits from people across Canada.
The Coffee Party, which is not related to the Tea Party movement in the United States, is a campaign to convince the Canadian governments to support changes Democracy Watch says will make elected officials, and large corporations, operate more openly, honestly and effectively.
“If Canadians spent as much time writing politicians about their concerns as they spend lining up to buy coffee, we would have the good, democratic governments and responsible big businesses we want,” the website says.
“Surveys over the past 20 years show that a large majority of Canadians want stronger good government and corporate responsibility laws and enforcement systems, and the CoffeeParty.ca movement will keep pushing for those changes until politicians across the country finally clean things up,” Duff Conacher, the coordinator of Democracy Watch, said in a release to issued boast about the number hit the site has received.
The Coffee Party is particularly important, the group says, with elections scheduled this fall in Manitoba, Newfoundland and Labrador, Northwest Territories, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, Saskatchewan and Yukon.
And of course there could be a federal vote this spring.
