While on the campaign trail of 2004, Stephen Harper, trying to score points off the backs of Liberals who had been stung by nasty riding-level nomination battles, said:

We want to clean up internal party politics, beginning with grassroots democratic control of the nomination process. Stephen Harper

What a crock of crap.

Over the years its been made clear that Harper has never cared for "grassroots democracy" -- not as Preston Manning's policy sidekick, not as head of the libertarian/anti-government National Citizens Coalition, not as leader of the Canadian Alliance and certainly not as leader of the Conservative Party or government.

What nominal support he offers democracy is merely pretense; a platitude for the masses.

Taking the point to its logical conclusion, Harper doesn't much care for "democracy", not by any common definition of the word. Harper certainly doesn't believe in representative democracy, as the people's representatives are muzzled before, during, and after election, and made to conform in every respect, cookie-cutter-like, to templates set by a back-room bunch from National Council and the ever-ready election war room.

Usurping the people's choice apparently comes naturally to Harper. We've got Fortier and Emerson and Khan as concrete examples. And within just a few weeks recently, a hat-trick of electoral district associations are being dictated to from afar (or essentially have been replaced) and condescendingly informed that they may not select their own candidates.

While CPC president Don Plett might be taking the heat lately, the Manitoban Harper hitman answers only to his master in the PMO.

A Prime Minister who has at every turn demonstrated that the only voice which matters is his own, Stephen Harper has made it clear that he favours autocracy, not democracy.