Democracy

Farce, Folly or Fraud?

 The Oxford says democracy is “Government by the people; the form of government in which the sovereign power resides in the people; and is exercised directly by them or officers elected by them; a social state in which all have equal rights.”

Is that what we have in Canada? We do have elected members of Parliament, but do they represent all the people all the time? Our last government was an informal coalition of the Liberals and the NDP and previously we have had majority governments of either the Liberal Party or the Conservative Party with the occasional minority government from time-to-time. But does each of these governments truly represent the consensus of all citizens?

• As a party member throughout my adult life, and following many frustrations and disappointments with all parties, I am now an independent. Here are some of the reasons why:
  
• First Past the Post System pushes most voters to the side and allows the ruling party to govern with an average of one third of the votes electing the majority of members. Actually, the winning party generally governs with only about 20% of the electorate in favour because so many don’t bother to vote.
  
• Parties tend to focus on superhero leaders instead of a comprehensive team of exceptional citizens because they believe that the public needs a champion to be their saviour who will rescue them from the perfidy of the previous government.
  
• The winning leader tends to control the members of caucus with the whip of loyalty: follow my direction or get out.
  
• Each member of parliament has a disproportionate voting power in terms of those they represent. Scarborough Centre represents over three and a half times as many citizens as Charlottetown.  So where is the one person, one vote analogy there?
  
• Would some form of proportional representation help solve this problem? 
  
• We’ll never know unless we try and explain how another system could work. And yes, that would require compromises but isn’t that why minority governments tend to be so productive for everybody?
  
• Would mandated voting be part of the answer if there was space on the ballot for None of the above? 
  
• If you don’t like any of the candidates in your riding you have the right to reject your ballot when you go to the poll. That way you will be counted as a voter, but you don’t have to compromise and vote for someone you really don’t want.
  
• So, regardless of all this, be sure to exercise your franchise on September 20, 2021.
  
  
  bap                                The Weekly Doorletter                             21/09/17