One could pore through annals of political thought for many days, I fear, without finding a definition of "democracy" consistent with The Citizen's use of the term in this morning's editorial ("Score one for democracy", May 11).
There, the last minute success of - what? - a couple of hundred light industrial business owners, in lobbying down a tax hike is counted as scoring "one for democracy."
Or is the democratic angle The Citizen sees, the fact that our supposedly objective newspaper - the fourth estate which is usually seen as vital for a democratic society - proudly collaborated with a special interest group, the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, to promote fiscal measures offloading municipal debt onto the backs of unionized employees?
Use contracting out, The Citizen and its private sector buddies proclaim, to save costs rather than have those light industries - whose use of municipal infrastructure and services is anything but light - bear their fair share.
If I remember my political philosophy correctly, democracy was posed in opposition to oligarchy wherein a small number of people with special interests get their way.
The latter sounds much closer to what happened Monday night than democracy as generally understood.
Norman Dale
Prince George
