Hugh Mackenzie
Huntsville Doppler
Fun, in Politics?
With the federal election in this country just a few months away, it will be interesting to watch the dynamics of the various political parties as they fight for their positions on the national stage. It will be different this time, in part because of the presence of the so called People’s Party of Canada.
I for one am not sorry to see Maxime Bernier and his newfound political party as part of this election cycle. It gives us an opportunity to put all the nuts in one basket, where we can clearly see them and know who they are. To be clear, this is not a conservative party, but it is the reason Maxime Bernier could not find a home there.
His new political movement is an alt-right party, leapfrogging on disturbing trends seen in the United States and other parts of the world. In my view, it could be a comfortable home for white supremacists, homophobes, neo-nazis and racists. I would like to think that we have none of these in Canada, but sadly we do, and the People’s Party is welcome to them.
Bernier’s new movement is yet another sign of political polarization in Canada. Gone are the days when political parties could vigorously debate important national and provincial issues, often finding a middle ground, without demeaning their opponents, almost to the point of metaphorically questioning their parentage. Fierce debate and yet respect across party lines was a genuine commodity in those days.
Today, it is a “my way or the highway” approach to politics. You are either with me or you are against me and if you are against me, you must be the enemy. If you are the enemy, I am not even going to talk to you.
This type of atmosphere in the political realm must be very hard on many if not most elected people. I do believe that the majority of individuals who seek elected office do it for the right reasons: to serve the people they represent, to make our country more prosperous, and to have a platform to express their views. There must be a high level of frustration when they find so often that their hands are tied, when they are told what to say, when they are forbidden to challenge the boys in short pants from the PMO and when they are discouraged to fraternize with those who hold different opinions.
In that regard, I think of people like Jane Philpott and Jody Wilson-Raybould, both first-rate parliamentarians. More top of mind, however, I think of two people who have recently and tragically died, both at too young of an age, who in my view must have been very disturbed by the polarization and nastiness of politics today.
The first is David Caplan who died suddenly a week or so ago at the age of 54. He was a Liberal and former Minister of Health. He was a fierce partisan. His friends called him the Happy Warrior. But he knew how to work with people. He listened to their ideas and he was never afraid to cross the aisle to work with people whose opinions were different than his. Most importantly, he treated everyone with respect, a quality sadly missing in politics today. I worked with David Caplan on a number of occasions, from the time he was a young school trustee. Among the many people I worked with over the years, he is one of those that stands out. He was that kind of guy.
Another shocker came yesterday, when it was learned that Deepak Obhrai had died from a fast acting liver cancer at the age of 69. Now most people, even some of the initiated, will have no idea who he was, but in my view he was one of the best parliamentarians we have. He has served as a member from Calgary for 22 years, having been elected five times. He was Dean of the Conservative Caucus. He ran for the Leadership of the Party when he knew he didn’t have a snowballs chance in Hell of winning, because he had things he believed it was important to say. He was outspoken, he was funny, he was innovative, and he was loved by people on both sides of the aisle in Parliament.
Both of these men exuded warmth, wisdom kindness, and good humour. How little of that we see in politics today.
And now, we are entering into an election period where the reality is that few of these important qualities, so necessary in a positive and open democracy, will be evident. It is going to be a mud slinger. The party leaders are already at it, using wedge issues such as homophobia and abortion to smear each others’ character when they should be concentrating on issues such as the economy, climate change, healing a divided nation and ensuring that no one, as they now must do in Quebec, needs to choose between their faith and their career.
It is my view that people’s sexual orientation and issues related to a woman’s body have no place in politics. They are personal and they are private, and they don’t need a bunch of politicians judging them or telling them what to do. Pierre Elliott Trudeau said it best when he said there is no place for the state in the bedrooms of the Nation. Wedge issues are simply intended to distract from issues that really are the business of the nation.
Justin Trudeau is reported to have told a group of students at McMaster University that political involvement included pizza, sex and all sorts of fun things. He may be right about the sex, but if you think there is still fun in politics just watch this next election campaign.
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Sadly you are all correct in your assessments. Every legislature in Canada engages in blocking transparency. There is little or no meaningful dialogue. Everyone must tow the party line. No longer does and MPP’s vote represent the will of the very people who elected them. This is the sad reality we face as a nation. Beware of all the big money players who contribute to all 3 mainstream parties. And most if not all public sector unions do as well. Follow the money and you will see for yourself. It costs a lot of money to get elected in Canada now. As the late George Carlin once said, it’s a big game and your not in it.
The rhetoric on both sides AND in the media really needs to be toned down. The media, of course, loves nothing better than to cover a war–even if it is just a war of words. Liberals, for example, do not help political discourse when they insist on demonizing conservative opposition, as it merely invites similar invective from the other side. It seems that those who are willing to say the most outrageous insults, grab the most news coverage. Politicians seem to have adopted Hollywood’s philosophy that, “There is no such thing as bad news coverage.” As long as they are getting attention, that’s all that matters. Care should be taken by journalists to present the sound-bites of those who are more measured and deliberate in their remarks. Political opponents should be invited to have calm discussions, rather than debates. If our political leaders cannot find common ground for peaceful interaction and respect, then we need new leaders. The wisdom found in the Bible tells us, “As far as it depends on you, be at peace with all mankind.”
That peace will be found only by appealing to conscience. We need to veer away from the narcissism that the cultural “leaders” promote. When young males listen non-stop to rap music that degrades women and encourages abuse of them, what would we expect from them in terms of attitude toward women? Similarly, can women be blamed if they react by becoming more militant and anti-male? This, in turn, leads to a further destruction of marriage and family. The once-great culture of the Western nations was made great due to the presence of the Biblical values of peace, righteousness and respect for others. The words of Christ echo down through the ages, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” He calls us to a higher place. Is anyone listening anymore?
Something that bothers me in elections now , they do all negative comments about the other parties. Instead of showing the positive ideas and options from there own party. Me I won’t vote for a party that does nothing but try and make themselves look good by making the others look bad.
Hugh, you are right that the “TONE” of politics has deteriorated, but something else is emerging that is even more disturbing. We are seeing the emergence of robotic Third-Party adds on the Internet from organizations like Canada Proud that can skirt campaign contribution laws as the political action committees do in the USA. In the USA these PACs are disguised as think tanks to which people can contribute without limits for a tax deduction. They then spread their propaganda and crowd-fund their cause. Both left and right are doing this, but most of the PACS were set up and funded by billionaire puppet masters (and their NRA proxy) who want no taxes and no regulations that interfere with their ability to make money at any cost to society and the environment. So, a few billionaires (The Kochs, the Crafts, The Devos family to name a familiar few) with the biggest purses get to buy their elected reps and call the shots. The result is the demise of real democracy in the USA. We need to revise Canadian campaign contribution laws to make sure that Canada does not follow the USA down that slippery slope.
After a “holiday” weekend, which saw 2 mass murders in the States, and 12 shootings in Toronto; I truly fear the intrusion of an all-right party. As I see it, the problem becomes that it gives political legitimacy to too many people, whose interest in politics is far surpassed by their interest in fomenting violence and discord. It is too simplistic to simply discount them (as they are prohibitive favourites to not win a single seat); but how many votes will they split? For better of for worse, Canada has far too much on its collective plate at this time to proceed with a minority government. We ignore the People’s Party at our peril.
It seems to me that respect is something that has been forgotten not just in politics but in every day life by most people. Not sure if it’s the way we are raising our children or what is going on. But for sure respect has been thrown out the window to the point people don’t even respect themselves.