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The only way to pass some sovereignty upward without sacrificing accountability, is direct democratic elections

Could, may, long run, under certain conditions: in other words, never. The only way this could ever happen would be if all of the world’s governments agreed it should, and even then it would likely be about as toothless as — well, think of how little power the European Parliament has, then dilute it by about 100. But someone said it on a website, so you never know.

The idea — world federalism — is not new, and neither is the campaign: it has been kicking around for several years, driven more by the enthusiasm of the handful of utopian idealists behind it than by any actual prospect of success. In that time, however, it has collected the support of individual parliamentarians in a number of countries, including several dozen current and former MPs in Canada. Most are Liberals and New Democrats, together with a smattering of Red Tories. Among the signatories: one Justin Trudeau, MP, who apparently endorsed the proposal in 2010.

Cue the hysteria, courtesy of Maxime Bernier, leader of the increasingly nutty People’s Party of Canada. Which means, on current form, the Conservatives will be asking about it in Parliament next.

“Our Prime Minister supports a campaign for the establishment of a World Parliament that could impose binding laws and regulations on Canada,” Bernier said in a Thursday tweet, one of several posted before and since. “This is not a conspiracy theory invented by paranoid anti-globalists,” he explained in another. Then, just to underline the non-conspiratorial, non-paranoid nature of his argument, he hit the caps lock key: “IS HE LOYAL TO CANADA OR LOYAL TO A FUTURE WORLD GOVERNMENT THAT WILL DESTROY CANADA?”