FELDSTED: MPs who analyze the legislation they are dealing with, and propose amendments, are ostracised as not being ‘team players’
Canadian Politics Has
Entered Era Of 'Extreme Partisanship': Samara Report
By Zi-Ann Lum
~~ Huffington Post ~~ 0/31/2018
OTTAWA — Politics is ingrained in an era
of "extreme partisanship" and unless parliamentarians tone down
"anti-democratic" rivalries, public confidence in federal parties will
deteriorate, warns a new report by the Samara Centre for Democracy.
The Toronto-based non-partisan charity published a
report Wednesday titled "The Real House Lives," encouraging parties
adopt changes to limit the influence party leaders have over caucus members.
The Samara Centre interviewed 54 former MPs from the last Parliament who were
swept from office after the Liberals won a majority mandate in 2015.
Jane Hilderman, the organization's executive
editor, said it was surprising to hear MPs say they saw partisanship intensify
in the last Parliament. She said several MPs claimed the relationship between
MP and party leader had grown even more unequal in caucus.
For the full story, CLICK HERE
My Opinion?
The Samara Report is a couple of decades late. Elections were once run
on the ground in electoral districts (ridings), but TV and the Internet have
changed that dramatically. We are flooded by political party advertising dominated
by highlighting the party leader.
In five decades of participating in federal
elections, I have never seen nasty partisan politics equal to the 2015 campaign
-- it reminded me of the lyrics from a Johnny Cash song, “A Boy Named Sue”:
Well I hit
him hard right between the eyes
And he went
down but to my surprise
He came up
with a knife and cut off a piece of my ear
But I busted
a chair right across his teeth
And we
crashed through the wall and into the street
Kicking and
a’ gouging in the mud and the blood and the beer
I tell ya,
I’ve fought tougher men, but I really can’t remember when
He kicked
like a mule and bit like a crocodile....
Partisan politics cause us to lose all sense of
reality, and it gives us no chance to compare the positions of political
parties on key issues that matter to us.
We need to know what each party’s governance plans
are – budgets, deficits, public safety, taxation, immigration, health care,
support for seniors and low-income people, reductions in bureaucracy and
regulations, development of our resources and other things that matter most to
Canadians.
Partisan politics allow political parties to avoid
the nitty gritty, and then later claim they have ‘a mandate to govern’ when
they don’t.
The party that wins the most seats forms a Cabinet
to run government.
But, does that Cabinet make governance decisions,
in consultation with all elected party MPs?
NO, it does not! What we get
instead is the party leader, now Prime Minister, together with party officials
and select unelected advisors dictating to Cabinet what they want. Then, that Cabinet shames the rest into
obedience.
How is that democratically representing the
electorate and society?
Partisan bickering continues in sittings of the House
of Commons, making the work of committees (where the real work of parliament is
done) more difficult. Those Committees are certainly not efficient, or
effective. Instead, politicians and
staffers, at the Committee level are too busy gaining an edge on the ‘other
guys’.
Rivalry between the MPs for appointments and
positions is as old as parliament, and it is intensified by their mistreatment
by party bosses. But ... they did not run for
office, and win their seat, to be marginalized when they arrive in Ottawa.
Run the numbers:
There are 338 seats in the House of Commons (HOC). A
political party has win at least 170 seats to form a majority government, and
needs 180 seats for a comfortable majority. The governing liberals have 182
seats. Only 35 are members of cabinet (including the Prime Minister). Another
37 are named parliamentary secretaries. The secretaries are subservient to the
Ministers. The remaining 110 Liberal MPs sit on one or more committees, but
their participation is managed by party staffers and Ministers.
Independent opinion and thinking are frowned on … and
MPs who analyze the legislation they are dealing with, and propose amendments,
are ostracised as not being ‘team players’.
The numbers for opposition parties are smaller, but
follow the same pattern. It is fair to surmise that at least 200 elected MPs
have little voice in the parties they represent and none in governance decisions.
That is appalling and unacceptable.
After each election a Prime Minister chooses a
cabinet. Pundits and the media speculate on who will represent the cabinet from
each province, and whether enough women will be included.
Why not pick the best person for the job?
The cabinet exists to serve all Canadians, not
regions or provinces. Why have we been sidetracked into appeasing regions
rather than seeking effective governance? After all, the Senate is formed along regional
lines, and that is where and how regions are protected.
Our Parliament has deteriorated into an oligarchy,
with nearly 60% of elected members having no voice in proceedings. Democracy
has been stolen from us, and sadly, many of those who demand a change to elections,
to ‘fix’ parliament, have no idea how the institution operates.
The problem is abuse of power by unelected
political party officials, not how we elect representatives. Proportional
representation will only make matters far worse.
The solution is simple; get rid of the fog, smog,
smoke and mirrors -- ban all political party election advertising except at
electoral district level, where we vote for our representatives.
Political parties use huge sums of your donations
to hire advertising agencies and pollsters, so they can appeal to feelings, and
fuel indignation and outrage, rather than setting out their plans for
governance. We are voting based on slick advertising and social media gossip
rather than vital information on governance plans. Trolls on social media
influence our elections because we too readily accept rumours as fact.
Political parties moan about low voter turnouts,
but they are the problem. An increasing number of electors are done with
electing a representative who winds up marginalized despite sound thinking
ability, common sense and substantial abilities. We are stifling hundreds of
years of experience, and ability, that can only lead us to better governance.
The few dozen political party officials, who have
clawed their way into position of power within political parties, have gained
power over governments and our elected representatives.
Shame on us for allowing it.
John Feldsted
Political Consultant
& Strategist
Winnipeg, Manitoba
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