Getting the Government We Deserve

Canadians have become a nation of cynics where politics is concerned. In the last federal election only about 50% of all eligible voters actually put an “X” on a ballot. It has become a truism that it is a waste of time to go to the polling station because there really is no difference between political parties. With voter turnout at an all time low, we now have a government which can only truly claim to represent about 20 to 25% of the people. How did this happen?

Well, the first cause of our problem is the approach politicians have taken toward public office. Not too long ago it was not uncommon for two lawyers to form a law partnership, capture the Liberal and Conservative nominations in their riding and then run against each other in their electoral district. That way, the electoral loser would keep the law practice going while the winner went off to serve in the federal or provincial government. This approach to office is distinctly at odds with the often cited claim by politicians that they have made a sacrifice by going into public service. Most people understand that the only part of the public being served is themselves.

The next cause of voter apathy was the dawning realisation that the only time any politician really pays any attention to ordinary citizens is when an election writ has been dropped. Even that concern evaporates the day after the final results are in. Politicians, once elected, only obey the instructions they are given by their party. They become men who vote like sheep. We believe these sheep are being led to the slaughter by a Judas goat.

When our representatives go to either Ottawa or Halifax, they become non-entities. No less a person than Pierre Trudeau once said about all MP's: "They are non-entities once they are 200 feet away from Parliament Hill." Since 1969, it has become fashionable for Prime Ministers in Ottawa and our Premier in Nova Scotia to maintain a large office staff who make most of the decisions in the running of our country and our province.

Given these observations about our electoral system and our governments, it is not hard to understand why voters have become apathetic and cynical. We are governed by a back room cabal consisting of un-elected, and very probably unelectable, faceless and mysterious servants of special interests. In Ottawa it is the PMO (Prime Ministers Office) and in Nova Scotia, it is the Premier’s Office. These unelected rulers are put in place by the political party holding office. There is no constitutional basis for these offices, they have merely grown up in the last 35 years.

In 1867, Sir John A. Macdonald ran the country with a PMO consisting of a couple of secretaries. Abraham Lincoln ran the United States during the Civil War with a similar complement of staff. These men ran their countries using their best judgement as their guide. Today, Canada’s PMO and America’s West Wing are staffed with hundreds of appointed office holders who force the government to act in a manner calculated to retain a firm grasp on power. Unfortunately, being right and being in power are not the same thing.

There is a proper season for all parties, but a party which is always in office grows stale and worthless. It also tends to select leaders who are easy to manage and manipulate. Inflated salaries, obscene perks and fat pensions ensure rank and file obedience within parties. Appointment to plum jobs after retirement ensure a career-long state of abject obedience in most MP's. We, the voters, end up with a country which is badly run, by people who are incompetent and we do not seem able to rid ourselves of these parasites. This state of affairs is something which was not unforeseen:

Two hundred years ago, James Madison, a man destined to become President of the United States was not in favour of political parties because he saw them as an anti-democratic force based on special interest. He saw only two solutions to avoid the creation of political parties: one was the elimination of freedom and the other was the hope that enlightened statesmen would always head up the government. He felt that eliminating freedom was a cure worse than the disease and that “It is in vain to say that enlightened statesmen will be able to adjust these clashing interests, and render them all subservient to the public good. Enlightened statesmen will not always be at the helm.” Given his druthers, Madison would have sought an outright ban on the formation of political parties.

An Independent Solution

There is, however, a third way to ensure that ordinary citizens determine what governments do and how they operate. We must select the best, most capable people in our community to run as independent candidates. If enough independent representatives, people free from the constraints imposed by party discipline, win seats in our parliament and our legislature, they can act as a swing vote forcing the party in power to act for all the people. Even if these people lose their election campaigns, the weight of the people backing independent candidates will force candidates who are elected to think twice before voting like a flock of trained sheep. We need candidates who have no party affiliation and will act on our behalf, using their best judgement and the brains God gave them. That way we will enjoy a government which is right more often than it is wrong, just more often than it is unjust, and capable more often than it is incompetent.