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DOING POLITICS DIFFERENTLY [Nov 16]

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November 17, 2015

DOING POLITICS DIFFERENTLY [Nov 16]

By Greg Stulen + iPolitics article

DOING POLITICS DIFFERENTLY
Monday, November 12, 2015, 5:00 to 7:00 pm

We are in a new era. We can do politics differently. We can focus on the things that are important to Canadians regardless of politics. It’s time to challenge ourselves to do politics better. After all, in Canada better is….

Panelists:
Elizabeth May, M.P., (Saanich-Gulf Islands) Leader, Green Party of Canada
Anita Vandenbeld, M.P. (Ottawa West – Nepean), International expert on democratic development and reform
Michele Austin, former Chief of Staff to the Hon. Rona Ambrose; Senior Advisor, Summa Strategies
Robin Sears, former NDP Strategist; Principal, Earnscliffe Strategy Group
Moderator: Hon. Herb Breau, Board Member, Pearson Centre; Former MP and minister (Gloucester, NB)

Lord Elgin Hotel; 100 Elgin Avenue, Ottawa

Summary:
While speakers from the four parties represented had different perspectives on the recent election there was a strong agreement with Anita Vandenbeld’s view that the new Parliament has a window of opportunity in the early days to make some much needed reforms. Elizabeth May stressed that MPs are elected to represent their constituents and that was at the heart of the Westminster system. Michele Austin said the most important need of reform was around nominations which favours men and the establishment of any party. Robin Sears noted we need to get more people involved in politics in order to restore the legitimacy of politics.

REPORT ON THE OPENING COMMENTS:
by Greg Stulen

Elizabeth May, the leader of the Green Party, started the evening by discussing the need to rescue democracy from political partisanship. She argued that the removal of political parties from the practice of democracy would result in the best outcome for Canadians because it would allow MPs to represent their constituents rather than simply representing their party’s interests. Ms. May recommended following this approach to return power and authority to the offices of MPs from political parties and their party’s leadership. In this way, she called for a move away from the centralization of power that is commonly seen in presidential systems and towards a more traditional model of parliamentary democracy.

Ms. May commended the new Trudeau Government for allowing public access to the ministerial mandate letters as a demonstration of transparency by the new government. She drew special attention to the ambitions to the letters addressed to the Minister of Democratic Reform and the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons. In the Hon. Maryam Monsef’s mandate letter (Minister of Democratic Institutions), Ms. May highlighted the Prime Minister’s call to appoint non-partisan senators, for rules in leader’s debates during elections, and for electoral reform. For the Green Party, she argued that proportional representation was the desired outcome of democratic reform. In the Hon. Dominic Leblanc’s mandate letter (Government House Leader), Ms. May drew special attention to the need to hold ministers to greater account, for transparency in public financing, and for strengthening parliamentary committees.

Anita Vandenbeld, the Liberal MP for Ottawa West-Napean, noted that her desire to run for public office was driven from her work in democratic reform for the UN and from watching the decline of Canadian democracy over the past 10 years. Touching on an interest in democratic reform in Canada, Ms. Vandenbeld argued that if democratic reform is going to be successful, there has to be a political will for it both within the leadership of the government and within the Parliamentary body itself. Additionally, there is a need for individual MPs to be willing to champion democratic reform for it to have any significant success. Ms. Vandenbeld made the case that favourable circumstances for democratic reform currently exist in the Canadian House of Commons and that the opportunity to make change needs to be seized before the political will for it disappears. She also noted the need to have champions of democratic reform in all political parties in order to put the government ahead of partisanship.

Ms. Vandenbeld listed a number of reforms that she would like to see accomplished by the new Liberal government, some of which include: codifying parliamentary conventions to prevent their manipulation, empowering MPs to act independently rather than allowing ongoing centralization of power, and standardizing the nomination process. She noted some satisfaction at the recent 50/50 gender split of men and women in the federal cabinet and commented that it would have positive impacts on Canada’s gender biases to see more female cabinet ministers in the news and on social media.

Michele Austin, Former Chief of Staff to PC MP Rona Ambrose, spoke to the need for the Conservative Party to come to peace with and to adapt to being opposition for the first time in the better part of a decade. She agreed that the new government presented an opportunity for change in the way that government is conducted. This significant number of new Members of Parliament would allow new MPs to outnumber experienced ones and could result in a dramatically different way of practicing politics if the new MPs decide to take charge.

Ms. Austin argued that next steps should include reforming the nomination process for political candidates, noting that the current unstandardized nature of nomination is horrible. She made the case that this process is especially difficult for women, who face a structural disadvantage in comparison to their male counterparts. Ms. Austin argued that a change in the nomination process to allow equal access to minority groups through a standardized process and this would give MPs the opportunity to make significant change in Parliament by having more voices from different backgrounds at the table. Ms. Austin also suggested reforming the appointment process across the board to move away from patronage appointments to those based on merit. She argued that this would also serve to bring a greater diversity of people and opinion to appointed positions in the Canadian Government.

Robin Sears, formerly the National Director of the NDP, argued that the change in government was not a question of doing politics differently, but of governing differently. He made the case that the problem occurs in the creeping centralization of power in the executive branch of the government. This undermines the practice of government and necessarily changes the practice of politics, which was a means of navigating government channels. Mr. Sears that the low level of active participation in politics by the Canadian public was also a significant problem. The increasingly narrow and self-selecting groups that join and work with political parties means that the views shared within those parties are similarly limited. Mr. Sears argued that changes to this system, and specifically the nomination process, must come from outside of the existing framework because parties currently benefit greatly from the existing nomination process.

Mr. Sears made the case that proportional representation is the best outcome for the Canadian electoral system because it will encourage the electorate to engage more actively in political life. This will apply higher standards and expectations to politicians by demonstrating that the electorate has the ability to give or take away support for a given political party beyond a simple vote. Under the current system, no such incentive exists for politicians to listen to the electorate outside of an election period.

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iPolitics
Doing politics differently: panel discusses parliamentary reform

By Selina Chignall | Nov 17, 2015 11:41 am | Tweet about this on TwitterShare on FacebookShare on LinkedInShare on RedditPrint this page

Green Party Leader Elizabeth May speaks while Liberal MP Anita Vandenbeld and former MP Herb Breau listen during a panel discussion on ÒDoing Politics DifferentlyÓ in Ottawa on Monday, Nov. 16, 2015. iPolitics/Matthew Usherwood
Green Party Leader Elizabeth May speaks while Liberal MP Anita Vandenbeld and former MP Herb Breau listen during a panel discussion on ÒDoing Politics DifferentlyÓ in Ottawa on Monday, Nov. 16, 2015. iPolitics/Matthew Usherwood

In Ottawa Monday night, experts gathered to discuss ways in which Canada’s democratic institutions and processes can be revitalized.

Herb Breau, a former Liberal member of parliament and chair of the Pearson Centre for Progressive Policy, hosted the panel “Doing Politics Differently.” He asked the panelists if there were aspects of politics that need to be changed.

Green Party Leader Elizabeth May was first to respond, saying in Canada, we treat partisan politics as a blood sport.

“It has no place in a healthy democracy. We have accepted it too long.”

May said MPs are, first and foremost, accountable to their constituents. There has been too much focus on party politics — but political parties don’t run for office, only members of parliament do. Westminster democracy, she says, has also become distorted.

She referred to Canada’s first prime minister, Sir John A. MacDonald, who once described his own caucus as “loose fish,” because he didn’t know on a daily basis how they would vote.

“Over the last number of years, not entirely just the last 10 years, this has been a trend, over a period of time, that there’s not so many “loose fish.” They’re pretty much nailed down, or they’re going to feel some pain.”

As a member of the opposition, May says she is going to keep the ministers accountable to their mandates “and more.” With the minister of democratic institutions’ mandate, May is most excited about reform of the first-past-the-post voting system.

“This agenda doesn’t cover everything I would want to see, the ultimate improvement in parliamentary democracy would be to get rid of all political parties — but that’s a long time coming.”

“In the meantime, restricting the improper control over the parliamentary process by back room fixers and spin doctors is essential, or we will be a democracy in name only.”

Ensuring the health of democracy is something that newly elected Liberal MP Anita Vandenbeld for Ottawa West – Nepean, says drove her to a career in politics. As a former senior advisor to the United Nations, with a background in democratic governance, she was in the Middle East before and after the Arab Spring. What unfolded in region created a shift in expectations between citizens and their political leaders.

With the rise of social media, people can directly communicate with those in power. She said now you can use Twitter to tweet the prime minister, it’s instantaneous. People no longer have to join parties to access those in authority. “The concept of power has changed.”

If Canadians want change, the political will to reform has to come from the top, and from Parliament, she says.

With hundreds of new MPs arriving in Ottawa, this window of opportunity for change can also lead to the new order of “being disruptive but respectful” of the old-guard, and their approach to parliamentary process, said Michele Austin, the former chief-of-staff to Conservative interim leader, Rona Ambrose.

As the party now in opposition, Conservatives will need to figure out the future of their party, but in the meantime, will have to accept “this new world order.”

She also raised the problem with the nomination process. Women are often working to get the nuts and bolts for the nomination, when they are sidelined by a man who steps-up and decides to run.

“Nominations from all political party levels have to be reexamined … that’s going to be very important moving forward, if you want a change in parliament to bring in different people.”

Robin Sears says he was the most jaded on the subject, as a former New Democratic Party strategist, he said the lack of engagement between Canadians and political parties is a problem, that can’t be easily fixed.

To have any influence over politicians, there has to be an increase in grassroots support. This issue of non-engagement goes hand-in-hand with the increasingly narrowing self-selecting group of people who are in charge of the parties at the local level. They are often recruited he says, from those they know and think like them.

“For most of Canadian history, that’s been old white guys like me — that has to be addressed.”

Unless people start to engage in a political life that puts the heat on politicians, it’s hard to create change, because there isn’t much incentive for those inside the system to change, he said.

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