Breathing Life into Canada’s Morbid Democracy

Many Canadians have come to realize that changes to Ottawa’s political structures and institutions are as important – and perhaps even more so – than the representatives that will be elected to Parliament on January 23rd. The Canadian Taxpayers Federation will release seven commentaries during this campaign that focus on broad themes of accountability and democratic reform measures. This fourth commentary in the series is written by CTF communications director Troy Lanigan on the subject of democratic reform. Troy is available for media interviews or comment on this subject by calling 250-888-5040 or e-mailing him at tlanigan@telus.net.

December 28, 2005

Breathing Life into Canada’s Morbid Democracy

Why vote? With each passing election a growing number of Canadians are concluding that all politicians are the same, their vote does not count, and nothing ever changes up in Ottawa. Can this antipathy be reversed?

Voter turnout in Canada’s federal elections has steadily declined from a high of 75 per cent of eligible voters in 1988 to less than 61 per cent in 2004. And although we Canadians like to thumb our noses at our American neighbours, it is worth noting that registered turnout for the 2004 presidential election was 70 per cent. Predictable remedies include changing the personalities, emboldened parliamentary committees, more “free-votes” and democratizing the appointment process. Each has been promised by a generation of politicians, and their proposed “reforms” have proven to be halfhearted and insincere.

“Our national parties and institutions are deteriorating through neglect, stagnation and inbred resistance to change,” says 20-year political insider Rick Anderson, his website www.fireweeddemocracyproject.ca invites a democratic renaissance in Canada. Anderson is right. So where do we start? Here are three suggestions to put in the ear of federal politicians out on the hustling for votes:

The Senate – elect it or abolish it: A fair debate can be had been between abolition and election of the Senate. Australia has been electing its senate since 1901 while neighbouring New Zealand abolished theirs in 1951. Significant debate surrounded the decision in each of the two countries. Putting aside the question of abolition or election, any country that anoints a quarter of its lawmakers via political appointment – as Canada does – stretches credulity in calling itself a representative democracy.

Change how Canadians vote: Randomly stop 10 citizens on the street and each will agree with the statement that a majority of voters should determine who governs the country. Yet our current first-past-the-post voting system regularly translates a minority of the vote into a majority of seats in our Parliament. In most of the world’s democracies, 40 per cent support would not grant a political party 100 per cent of the power, but that is almost universally what “elects” majority governments in Canada.

The vast majority of democracies have some form of proportionality that ties vote share to seat share in their parliaments. Many of those countries – as diverse as Ireland and New Zealand – do so while retaining strong local representation. Surely the most elementary building blocks of improving voter participation and accountability require that a majority of citizens have a say in who governs them.

Recall and Citizens’ Initiative: One of the great benefits of the marketplace is that consumers are empowered. If a product or service is misrepresented not only can you get your money back, but you have the option to sue for costs or damages. Try that the next time a politician says one thing during an election and does the exact opposite after getting elected. (Take a bow Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty.) The ability for voters to remove their representatives from office or petition for a law between elections moves accountability from a one day window every four or five years at the ballot box to a full-time dialogue between citizens and their legislators.

Political outcomes stem from rules in which Members of Parliament operate. If, for example, a politician knows that he is subject to recall, he may think twice before voting along party lines for a measure unpopular in his community. A prime minister elected under a more proportional voting system understands his 40 per cent support at the polls places limits on his ability to ram through legislation, assign committees, stack courts and appoint party hacks like David Dingwall and André Ouellet to head multi-billion dollar Crown corporations.

Of course, politicians are reluctant to change the rules that put them in office in the first place. British Columbia, for example, has a Recall and Initiative Act in name only. The province’s referendum to change the voting system won the support of 58 per cent of voters in May, but it will not be implemented by the government, which won a majority with 46 per cent of the vote. Although the reform processes in Quebec, Ontario and New Brunswick are still unfolding, in Ottawa there is no debate or discussion – a void, in other words.

Systemic reform would not end all ills, but it will create different incentives and outcomes that will lead to a more accountable, inclusive and participatory kind of politics. Sums Mr. Anderson, “We have to free up the atrophied arteries of our democracy, to make it welcoming to innovation, more encouraging of good people and good ideas.” Until such time, expect voter turn-out to continue in one direction.

Troy Lanigan is national communications director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.

John Williamson
Federal Director
Canadian Taxpayers Federation