Maybe to go another way?
I have been wondering what is really
wrong with our system of politics here in Canada, and it leads me to realize some
very simple truths, probably the biggest of which is that:
Today’s government is not for the people
and hasn’t been for some years now.
Oh I know there are those who say I am
just supporting some sort of corporate takeover conspiracy, and maybe they are
right, but let’s really look at what has gone wrong.
There was a time when members of the
House of Parliament or the Provincial Legislature were representatives of the people
of their ridings , a throw back to the “good old days” of England when they
represented the landowners who spoke for their surfs…! Far from ideal but for
that time it worked as well as any system had.
Even the American system with it’s checks
and balances for the three levels of government, Administration, Congress and
Judiciary was a great idea for a republic.
So again what happened?
Groups of elected people (mostly men at
that time- in fact probably all men) got together for each other’s ideas to be
presented and accepted by the level of government, simply put,
“
I like this, that, your idea and will support you. Will you also support my
idea?”
It seemed that this lead to the eventual
formation of like minded getting together to make life easier than canvassing
every other member, and thus the development of parties that started the
wielding of power as each party sought to have the final say.
Naturally this had to spread to the
voting public so that each party could come up with a proposal or “platform”
from which the voters were asked to choose. Of course by then the concept of
party leaders was established and we were on the slippery slope to where we are
today where one man controls the lives of every man woman and child in Canada, even if
he does not have the majority of Canadian behind him. Nor does it even matter
if he chooses to promote the benefits of corporations over the people, he is
the supreme “God” of Canada as he can make and break the rules with impunity,
and thumb his nose at the people because he really only needs them at an
election time of his choosing.
How far we have come from:
Our self
governing Dominions are united by the ties of a common allegiance to the Crown:
but the Crown has become the symbol of the people’s sovereignty.
According to our
concept and practice of government, the King reigns to execute the will of the
people who rule. The strength of the
Empire rests upon the eternal foundation of liberty expressed in the ideal and
consummation of autonomous self-government which is vested in the people of the
self-governing Dominions as of right and not of grace. – Sir Robert
Borden. 29th
December 1914
Obviously in his day it was the King and
now it is the Queen, and her present representative described it this way:
Our executive is
the Queen, who doesn’t live here. Her representative is the Governor General,
who is an appointed buddy of the Prime Minister.
–
Stephen
Harper June 1997
In an address to the Council for National
Policy (an American republican group) at which he also said:
“Canada is a Northern European welfare state
in the worse sense of the term, and very proud of it”.
The History of the party system in Canada shows
that the system only works when the interests of the people are the same interests
of the ruling party. Our current government is a prime example of what can
happen when those interests are diametrically opposite to each other.
So is there a solution?
Yes there are two that immediately c0me
to mind.
One is the Single Transferable Vote used
in some other countries and retained for instance in Ireland although the politicians
there wish to get rid of it. This is
relatively cumbersome and like all voting today, subject to the ability of
certain interests to manipulate the
outcome in the voting machines.
The other I find much more
interesting.
Abolish all party politics.
Yes that’s right no parties at all.
No pre-ordained leader for whom to vote
regardless of the quality of the local candidate.
No overall platform, just the
constituents and their candidates who wish to represent them.
Now we are getting to the quality of the candidates
and away from the lying ability of the leader of some party or another.
So you ask what then when the members are
elected what happens?
All members of the House of Commons elect
from their fellow members 15 members to head up the various cabinet posts. There are no party lines and no need for
shadow ministers or critics as those ministers would be reporting directly to
the House of Commons, not just blindly and obediently following the PM’s
wishes.
Those 15 members select from the
remaining members two person,
One as Speaker of the House, and
One as Speaker for Canada, that would be
the Prime Minister although he or she would not have a ministry (no change
there) but would represent Canada and her people to the world through the
decisions of the ministers with the House of Commons members’ approval. Each
event the prime minister attended would be with the minister responsible for
that event. In the event of weddings,
state funerals etc., he would be accompanied by the governor general. Another
useless position? Maybe, but a certain level of pomp and ceremony is good.
In the event that a minister or even the
“Prime Minister” lost the confidence of the House he could be replaced by a
simple vote in the House.
This same system should and could also
apply to all provinces, but with a smaller cabinet in the various legislatures.
If we are to return to the Canadian
People having a say in the way our Government works then we must have the
control to be able to stop the government when they want to do anything against
our wishes.
Simple question…Whose country is it?
I think it belongs to the people – all
the people not just a few.
To whom does it belong now?
Harper as PM, and his corporate buddies.
I welcome improvements to the idea.
Jeremy Arney
Jeremy Arney's Blog 