A different kind of year-in-review

There's an old joke that involves dogs, inappropriate behaviour and the punch line: "Because they can." That punch line also works when you consider much of what's passed for political debate in this country in 2010 -- why have politicians/the media/the strategists given Canadians such a barren/polarized/nasty state of things? Well, because they can. Because you, the citizens, are increasingly disengaged. 

With this in mind,  a blogger called simply "A Guy Watching Politics" has summed up the year in Canadian politics, asking not what politicians did or didn't do  for the citizens, but what citizens did in politics. John F. Kennedy would be pleased. I'm so delighted with this approach, and the insights within it, that I'm reprinting it in total here. I hope others spread it around too. More of this in 2011 please. 

WANTED: AN ENGAGED VOTER

 

Parliament is about to begin its winter break, and with that politics watchers out there will be treated to the usual year-end articles, podcasts and news features on "the year that was." As to be expected, these features will focus on the politicians. 

 Who had a good year, and who has disappointed. Who's up-and-coming Cabinet material, and who is destined for the backbench. We'll reflect on the main issues and the players in Ottawa, in the provinces and in major municipalities.

 I would like to propose we add a group to this annual list - the public.

Someone commented to me recently that "democracy isn't a spectator sport. If it's not working then everyone's not working." I could not agree more. I have written on this blog on more than one occasion about the importance of an engaged citizenry; about the need for a public that needs to play a more active and informed role in its democracy.

If the informed chatter is to be believed, we should expect an election in 2011, be it in the spring or the fall. With that in mind, it's an opportune time to consider the voter and ask ourselves what kind of year they - no, we - had. Were we engaged, informed and active participants in our democracy? If we really are heading into an election year, let's consider the voter's state of "preparedness."

My take is that the reviews would be mixed. 

Let's first consider how the year started - prorogation. I think on this front, we were all surprised about the degree to which people were engaged. It was quite interesting to see the reaction of many Canadians to the decision to prorogue for no apparent reason other than to avoid some tricky issues in the House. On our engagement meter, prorogation scores high.

I would also score potash as having generated a high degree of engagement, and not just in Saskatchewan. While I would have liked to have seen the public more aware of the pros AND the cons about allowing the sale (the debate became more of a nationalist one, versus the economic merits, implications for trade and market access, etc.), I still think the fact that this issue became a national one reflects well on the public and the media.

The municipal elections offer a mixed bag in terms of engagement. We had some very interesting results (Calgary), potentially significant results (Toronto), curious results (London) and not surprising results (Ottawa, at least in terms of the race for Mayor). Levels of engagement on the issues varied greatly, but what struck me was the strong interest in change. In many cases it truly was an "out with the old" mentality - something which could have implications for establishment politicians at the provincial and the federal level.

Beyond these areas, I see a public that can be prone to slumber only to be momentarily woken by an issue. The census is an example where we became engaged - but less on the substance, and more on the impression the decision left in terms of the government and what we thought of their, for want of a better word, behaviour. The G20 spending is another example - we were upset, nothing more. To me that's not really engagement.

I then add the relative lack of engagement on issues like Afghanistan, the environment and the economy. Here I see us failing to hold all elected officials to account for what are truly defining issues for the Canada of today and tomorrow. These are the types of issues around which the next election should be fought. I would also add to this list accountability. It was an issue in 2006, and should be again in 2011. 

Whether this proves to be the case will depend on us. Hopefully we're up for it.

Thoughts?

 

Comments

[Stan]

The question becomes how to hold the politicians accountable. One way is to deny a vote to a party, when an election is called. But if all parties engage in very similar behaviour then the question becomes who to vote for. Writing and signing petitions are levers that do not seem to be attached to anything in Ottawa. So, what does engagement bring about?

[Thomas Smith]

I'm not convinced by any of this. If national representative democracy has to be constantly babysat by citizens, then it is a useless system. Of course citizens aren't engaged in national politics. We're engaged in working overtime and running our families all day every day and supporting our communities.

I would argue that people should do the opposite. They should focus on what's closest to them - their towns and neighborhoods - and ignore national politics. The lower the voter turnout, the lower the interest in Ottawa, the less mandate we are giving these people to waste our hard-earned cash. A decade of sharply declining turnout would send a nice message to MPs.

And one thing's for darn sure: journalists' lazy obsession with the parliamentary spectacle at the expense of meaningful community reporting is more than a little part of why journalism's a dying business.

The problem here is not a disinterest in national politics, it's an unreasonable expectation on the part of publishers and broadcasters that we should care one iota about Ottawa.

[Does this make sense]

I have been following the provincial budget information and see that the belts are going to be tightened in all the provincial agencies, as they seem to the root of all over spending. I would like to suggest that the finance minister look closer to home, it appears that chosen managers and directors in the provincial public service who's salaries are over $100,000 are sent on courses to elite business school, costing over $12,000 which the government pays for under the auspice of career development. I support career development but if a person is making over $100,000 a year, would it not be more equitable to have them pay at least half?

[Aongasha]

As you know Susan I have been somewhat engaged this past year and have written comments on here a number of times. Quite frankly I believe it is primarily the media not the politicians who dis-engage the public. You are our primary source of political info and when we see the constant bashing of politicians and gotcha!journalism in the press reports - we eventually tune out. It's kind of a Casear's wife deal if you will. The press first of all should be above reproach and I think you know that is not the case at the moment. It's a shame really because it once was something we could depend upon for the straight goods. No more.

[Bob Roberts]

Susan, you are usually right on the money. However, I am not sure what you see in this otherwise anonymous generic blog posting. Do you personally know the person behind this blog and are you trying to promote them or something. Anyway, please keep up your good work for your loyal Toronto Star readers!

[Bob Larocque]

Susan, I believe you and Jim Travers are about the only journalists that are really telling it like it is on the Hill. Keep up the good work. The others, after being totally ignored by Harper for almost 5 years, give him weeks and weeks of free publicity about his musical abilities. Why not spend as much effort singing about the many stupid stunts he's pulled since 2006.

[admotto]

I love that you have posted "A Guy Watching Politics" - Although I don't often agree with his politics, I love! reading his articles!! Good post and something to think about!