Undermining All That We Cherish About Democracy

March 5th, 2008

Democracy is a precious gift to be cherished each and every day. Just ask the citizens of any non-democratic nation. Yet while it’s better than the alternative, democracy, along with the electoral and institutional systems that support it, is not perfect. And politics can be downright ugly at times.

Throughout my 14-and-a-half years as a federal Member of Parliament, I’ve witnessed many examples of petty partisanship and “childish” political games. And yes, ALL of Canada’s political parties have taken their turn at silly antics at one time or another in varying degrees.

But even the most seasoned followers of Canada’s political arena are astonished by what’s been happening in the House of Commons throughout the past few weeks.

It reached a new low this week when elected Liberal MPs, Canada’s so-called Official Opposition, did not bother to show up to vote in support of their own budget amendment. So fearful were they that their amendment might actually pass, thereby triggering an election they knew they couldn’t win, just seven out of 94 Liberals showed up for the vote. Again…. this was THEIR OWN motion which they wrote and tabled in the House!

And the wording of the motion? It read like a spiteful note passed around the classroom by an under-achieving eighth-grader who is in the midst of an adolescent spat with classmates.

The motion was light on substance and full of rhetoric designed to take a shot at both our Conservative Government and the NDP by accusing Conservatives of acting like the NDP. As mind-boggling as that may be to anyone who actually has a notion of Canadian politics, I can only imagine that the Liberals were hoping to protect themselves – literally left and right – from the leakage of support they’re experiencing.

What was the point of wasting Parliament’s time? Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion had already said last week that he wouldn’t bring down the Conservative Government on the budget. Then why would they introduce a ‘childish’ amendment to it which they knew would be subject to a vote of confidence, when they weren’t even going to vote for it themselves?

The next evening, for the final vote on Budget 2008, a whopping 11 Liberals showed up to vote…. if they’d only had one more MP present in the House they would have attained the minimum number of MPs required for “official party status”! The Liberals’ behaviour is a disservice to our Parliament and our democratic values.

This is not a one-time decision to abstain in order to strategically avoid an election for the benefit of election-weary Canadian voters. In fact, the Liberals have not voted on a significant vote in the House of Commons for over six months. This is all about the political survival of the beleaguered and indecisive Mr. Dion.

Though I almost never agree with the separatist Bloc Quebecois and the socialist NDP, at least they show up to do their jobs.

I actually feel sympathy for card-carrying Liberals! They deserve better and Canadians deserve better from an Official Opposition.