Mandates and the names on the ballot

My column this week on Loonie Politics looks at the electoral canard of conferring mandates upon political leaders at the ballot box and about voting for leaders directly – a timely consideration given some of the rhetoric around the recently called Ontario election. It's another column that serves as a bit of a reminder about our system of Responsible Government, and what it actually means when we mark a ballot, no matter what our calculation is at the time when we do so.