The Pearson Centre for Progressive Policy

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BIDEN-TRUDEAU….and more (Marchi)

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December 4, 2020

BIDEN-TRUDEAU….and more (Marchi)

By the Honourable Sergio Marchi

From Policy Options

By Sergio Marchi

As Washington — and the world — prepare to welcome President-Elect Biden, expectations are sky high.

Every new president brings fresh hope and promise. But following four years of what many would regard as the most dysfunctional administration in history, the level of anticipation may be unprecedented.

We must all keep our dreams in check, though. Not only is Biden human, but the Republicans will likely lay political speed bumps at every turn. His agenda, therefore, must be focused. As well, he needs to delegate wisely and widely to his cabinet secretaries and agency heads. With so much on his plate, he cannot afford to be a micro-manager.

Accordingly, as he prepares to occupy the Oval Office, I believe he should concentrate on three over-arching challenges that transcend his party’s platform.

First, Biden must strive to heal and unite his nation.

After a torturous Trump presidency and an ugly election, American unity lies in tatters. Trump thrived on building divisions, pitting people and regions against each other. It was an intentional strategy and regrettably, he was highly successful.

Whether it was stirring political divisions in Washington; using race as a wedge issue; fighting constantly with the media; attacking migrants; belittling protesters; demeaning war heroes, or ridiculing the physically disabled, Trump was constantly on war footing. He saw enemies and conspiracies everywhere. A presidential bully like none other, the most important issue for him was always himself. ‘Trump First and Foremost’, was his real mantra.

To be sure, not all these divisions started with the 45th President. But it is undeniable that he exacerbated each one to the breaking point.

Biden must now harness his decency, empathy, and experience in stitching back together the American quilt. During the campaign, he talked about “healing the soul of the nation”. But this work will he hard and long. The imperative is to bring people together — old and young; black, Asian, Latino and white; gay and straight; rich and poor; urban and rural.

In the process, he must restore ethics in government. Trump was propelled to power in part by his chants of “draining the Washington swamp”. Yet, conflicts of interest were his calling cards, as he replenished the swamp with a record number of law-breaking crocodiles.

Second, he must tame the Covid-19 beast.

Trump was an embarrassing failure. It was shocking to see the superpower put on blended knee by this tiny, invisible enemy. At the time of writing, there were 19,589,000 Americans infected with the virus, and over 336,899 have lost their lives. It was an incompetence of historic proportions. Imagine, a president encouraging people not to wear masks and not to social distance. And ridiculing those that did!

Biden has started well. Early in his transition, he established a new Covid-19 task force. He committed to taking counsel from the health and scientific community, and backed this up by retaining Dr. Anthony Fauci, who was constantly undermined by the Trump White House.

Following his inauguration, he needs to build on this momentum, and rally a new national effort. He must impose national standards; work closely with governors and big city mayors; partner with other world leaders and agencies; and ensure an effective and equitable distribution of vaccines.

Biden also knows that a healthy America is a prerequisite for a healthy economy.

Third, Biden must rebuild global relationships and alliances.

During the last four years, America forfeited its tag as the “leader of the free world”. In fact, Trump went out of his way to curry favour with the unfree world. He constantly played to authoritarians in Russia, Egypt, North Korea, and Turkey, while undercutting long-standing allies, including Canada. He also took a sledgehammer to global organizations, from NORAD to NATO to the WHO. He pushed isolationism and separatists’ forces like Brexit, while ignoring countless of pressing international issues.

To be sure, American foreign policy has been far from consistent; too many times, hypocrisy and a heavy hand have influenced their decisions. But it must also be said that since WWII, the US has served as the locomotive for a better, more peaceful world. Much public good can be traced to American ingenuity. Trump was more of a caboose, slowing down global progress. Biden’s challenge is to reverse this and return to a more traditional playbook.

He must renew old friendships; put dictators in their place; build a bridge to China; strengthen multilateral organizations; and fight climate change, to name a few. Again, this will be a tough and long slog, but there is no other option. Not if we want a world order that is founded on peace, civility, and progress.

In closing, much of the world is breathing a sigh of relief over Biden’s victory. But let us be realistic about what the new president can accomplish. He is facing many deep-rooted problems, and a Washington political machine that is seriously broken.

Biden also cannot do it on his own. He will require many friends and allies who must step up with support and ideas. In this regard, Justin Trudeau can be a pivotal player, considering our storied bilateral partnership. It is my hope that the Prime Minister seizes the moment and joins Biden, as he strives to renew America’s much-maligned global leadership.

The Hon. Sergio Marchi served as a Member of Parliament, Minister, and Ambassador.

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Competent leaders should run global agencies. Instead, political pedigrees seem to be what matters. Now, we’re paying the price for bad management.
Sergio Marchi
December 3, 2020

When our battle with COVID-19 is finally over, a comprehensive review of how we and the world dealt with the pandemic is a must. It is imperative that we learn from our experiences, so that we can strengthen our institutions and protocols in preparation for future threats.

Among the lessons that await us, one should be on how we select our heads of multilateral agencies. At a time when countries are so deeply interconnected and when forces in one corner of the world impact nations everywhere, choosing wisely has never been more critical.

Moreover, while political candidates come under microscopic scrutiny during national election campaigns, little is known about the processes and the candidates vying for these global positions. The rules are more akin to a private golf club.

That must now change. Not only has COVID-19 brought that opaque model into serious question, but the public deserves to know how their international agencies are governed.

A case in point: the head of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, has come under severe criticism for his handling of COVID-19. He has been accused of ignoring early warnings and moving too slowly. He also faces allegations that he allowed China to bury the truth about the outbreak in the City of Wuhan at the onset of the pandemic.

I spent five years as ambassador to the World Trade Organization (WTO) and UN Agencies in Geneva, where I saw these different organizations up close. I would contend that in recent years, competency has given way to diplomatic rotation, regionalism and political correctness, when it comes to selecting the heads of international organizations.

It was not always so.

Years ago, we had stalwarts like Peter Sutherland, leading the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, who was indispensable in the creation of the WTO; independently minded Gro Harlem Brundtland, former director-general of the WHO; Kofi Annan, who directed the UN with courage; and Sadako Ogata, who passionately fought for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. They were strong, skilled and experienced. They had convictions and were not timid about butting heads with the great powers. They refused to be headwaiters.

The WTO is in the process of choosing a new director general. Eight candidates entered the race from different parts of the world. In my opinion, the most competent and knowledgeable was Egyptian trade diplomat Hamid Mamdouh, who was unfortunately the first to be dropped. The reason seems to be that he did not have a political pedigree. But if he is impeccably qualified, why was he the first to be rejected?

Furthermore, while the WTO has been in a state of paralysis for years, it has been largely led by politicos. Why not try a different leadership profile?

Closer to home, we have been celebrating the significant political accomplishments of former deputy prime minister Don Mazankowski. He started his career as a car dealer in rural Alberta. Clearly, he did not have what others would perceive as a “political pedigree,” yet he went on to be an excellent MP, minister and deputy prime minister. His formidable leadership teaches us that we cannot be blinded by perceptions of what a “good leader” should be. We must instead dig deeper and determine what people are made of.

This is not done with enough rigour at the international level. It seems political leaders often want the weakest candidates in these important positions, so they can easily influence them. This is a huge and costly oversight because matters of enormous importance – human health, life and death, human rights, the environment, world trade, war and peace – are far too important for us to choose leaders by diplomatic niceties.

International governance and procedures must be made more robust and accountable. Why should we settle for second or third best, when so much is on the line?

Regardless of who they are and where they come from, let’s go back to choosing the best, most competent candidates. Our global agencies deserve nothing less.

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5 Ideas for better politics

When he was elected Prime Minister in 2015, Justin Trudeau promised that he would do politics “differently”. Yet, except for a period of time when federal-provincial cooperation was central to fighting Covid-19, it has largely been business as usual.

Don’t get me wrong. Canada enjoys a strong democracy — the rule of law is firmly entrenched, elections are largely free of controversy, courts and institutions are independent, free speech and a robust media flourish, and financial political contributions are capped.

Compare our system, for example, to what we have been witnessing in the US, where deep divisions, racial conflict, unrestricted money, and endless conspiracies come together to create a toxic and dysfunctional environment.

The problem is that our political culture does not rise to the standards of our democracy. It is often cheap, shrill, and small. Our politicos engage in overly-heated partisanship, while losing sight of what Canadians deem important. Politics has taken on a nasty edge, and the word compromise is quickly becoming a dirty word.

I spent some 20 years in Canadian politics, and I am not suggesting that those were necessarily the golden years. But they were better days. There was much less personal antagonism, and collaboration across the aisle was still a respected tradition.

How then, can we endeavor to reset the political dial?

For starters, I would suggest five modest measures.

First, elevating the dignity of public discourse should be the first priority for the Speaker of the House of Commons.

He should draft a “code” of parliamentary behaviour which would be the basis for negotiations with all the party House Leaders and National Caucus Chairs. The objective would be to hammer out an all-party agreement that would commit politicians to a higher standard of comportment, with the Speaker enforcing the accord on a daily basis.

Second, parliamentary committees should be free of television cameras.

While it is convenient for Canadians to see their democracy from the comforts of their living rooms, there is just too much political theatre and gamesmanship when the cameras are rolling. Keep the cameras on in the House, but because the real work gets done at committees, have those sessions be TV-free.

When I was in the Opposition, before the advent of TV, committees would produce many unanimous reports, which were instrumental in upgrading our laws and regulations. Today, that is virtually impossible.

Third, the Speaker should not accept party lists designating the Members that will make statements and ask questions during Question Period.

Currently, the Party Whips effectively control who gets recognized in the House, regardless of how those members behave. The Speaker should reclaim that authority. This way, he would have the latitude and discipline of not granting members who misbehave, the platform and attention that they crave.

Fourth, remove the media from the foyer of the House of Commons, so as to end the easy access to the media carnival that follows every Question Period.

The intention is not to discourage the media from covering our politicians. Instead, we should eliminate the automatic media access that follows the theatre of question period, in an effort to temper their actions in the House.

Finally, I would urge former MP’s, from all parties, to organize themselves into a voluntary working group, with the mandate of producing a unanimous and realistic report for how to make our politics more civil.

I say ‘former’, because while they have the rich experience of having served, they do not have any political ‘skin’ in today’s game. The report could consist of the more immediate-term recommendations, the low-hanging fruit, as well as more systemic proposals. The paper would be submitted to all the party leaders and caucus chairs, in the hopes of building a consensus on some, if not all, of the recommendations.

Our politics will never be free of partisanship, nor should it. That is the basis of our parliamentary democracy. The clash of competing ideas is central for any robust debate.

However, we should focus on eliminating the poisoned personalization of our politics — the nastiness; the baseless accusations; the character assassination; the theatre of the absurd.

Everyone dislikes this lowly dimension of our public life. It serves no purpose. So, let’s move our politics to a higher ground.

The Hon. Sergio Marchi is a founding Board Member of the Pearson Centre. He is Practitioner-in-Resident at the Clayton Riddell School of Political Management at Carleton University. He was Ambassador to the World Trade Organization and UN agencies in Geneva. A former MP, his portfolios in the cabinet of Jean Chretien included International Trade, Citizenship & Immigration and Environment.