Elections are More than Games! Op-Ed by Catherine Whelan Costen COIC Spokesperson August 27, 2008 The news is reporting regularly, (through our mainstream media) the competition and rivalry between the two major warring political parties. Is it a game? A mind game to see who will cave in first? Who will force the election and irritate the Canadian public or who will force an election because the Canadian public is so fed up with the current policies? It is not a game in my mind, but it plays like a game in the media. Elections are expense undertakings and the Canadian public pays for these activities. According to Elections Canada website, “ On election day, more than 190,000 temporary employees work at some 60,800 polling stations in the nearly 15,000 polling places across the country. A returning officer in each of the 308 electoral districts coordinates the activities of these workers. ...”http://www.elections.ca/content.asp?section=gen&document=part2&dir=ces&lang=e&anchor=29&textonly=false#29 That is just the expense of the people hired, not to mention the cost to rent office space, the incredible amount of paper, mail outs to Canadians etc. The game is theirs, the burden of payment is ours! This is not acceptable! From my point of view, Canada’s parliamentary system depends on our elected members of Parliament respecting their positions as public servants. I expect my government to work for me. That’s what I want but it is not what I see. Neither do I see a path to getting that kind of government through the process we currently have. We are permitted the right to vote, but after that we are not part of the equation. We elect them to represent us and part of the process is to listen to opposing or alternate points of view in order to make the best decision for the people of Canada. I fail to see the benefit in giving one party absolute power or the upper hand to ensure their agenda is implemented. That is more reflective of the reign of kings and queens, or perhaps dictatorships. We’ve been treated to the most deplorable behaviour in the last year or so, by members of parliament making decisions for Canadians based on whether they are ready for an election or not; rather than on whether the legislation is in the best interest of the people and our environment. Threats are made back and forth while Canadians wait to see when the battle will begin. This is not exclusive to one party, it is seemingly a tradition in Canada, although in recent times it seems exaggerated, as we increasingly mimmic our neighbours to the south. One news source reported it with this headline, ‘Election part of longterm Harper strategy to destroy Liberals: former top adviser’ Story from TELUS NEWS: http://www.mytelus.com/ncp_news/article.en.do?pn=regional/alberta&articleID=2983698 The article went into great detail about the strategies, the mind games, as per this quote from the article link above - “The third skirmish, which Harper appears set to launch next week, likely won't kill what Flanagan jokingly refers to as "the evil empire." But, if the Tories can win a few more seats at the Liberals' expense - an outcome Flanagan considers realistic given Harper's superior campaign skills and the Tories' fatter war chest - he predicted that would be enough to throw the Grits into a longterm tailspin that could eventually lead to their demise. "You can fight a war with some objective less than total victory," he said of the coming campaign.” The article goes on at length with the language of battle; variations of terms suggesting, the enemy, the fight, the conquest, the plan, evil and so forth. The language is similar to typical war talks, strategies and battle grounds. It also reminds me of sporting events as they are hyped by the media. We hear about them and often pick a side, wear our team colours and cheer from the sidelines. We see families split in their living rooms watching the big event, eating popcorn together, all in the spirit of good ole rivalry. After the event everybody goes back to life as usual. No hard feelings. No damage done. No consequences to the family or friends who chose opposite sides for the event. It is all in fun. Nobody’s reputation is smeared, nobody’s integrity is questioned, and usually the teams’ tactics are visible to the audience. Unfortunately these political battles do not have the same benign results. The question is, do we really want our lives governed by the best game player? Do we want our day to day lives affected by whether or not our member of parliament was good at the strategy of battle? Is the best player, the winner of these highly charged political blood sports, really the best representative of the people? If the methods related by an advisor to one of today’s political parties (as quoted above) is an indication of the objective of governance in Canada, is it reflective of what Canadians really want from their representatives? As I read these types of news articles, I ask myself if it is an indication of why we continually complain about the lack of responsible, accountable government in Canada? If the objective is simply to destroy the other voices, to diminish any opposition and to reign as the supreme ruler, then ‘the rules of war’, I expect kick in at that point, and ‘to the victor go the spoils of war’. But we are not at war and Canadians should not be treated to a battle ground for the best representative in parliament. Is that what we the people are seeking? Do we want the least compassionate candidate, deciding our social programs? The most sly, cunning and best strategist deciding our monetary policy? The one who knows how to find the weak spot and deliver the deadly blow, the same as the one who develops and defines funding for our healthcare system, our youth programs, our education funding, our cultural and heritage programs? Is it in our best interest to rally behind this kind of mindset in order to financially support the games? Shall we pick sides to watch the debates and chose our elected members by who slings the best insults? Should we expect that the winner will be the one who can excel at making their opponent look weak and incompetent, not the one with the best solutions to our country’s concerns? The article makes reference to the ‘war chest’ of funding ready to inundate the media airwaves with all kinds of messages and promises, never mentioning that not one promise can ever be forced after the election. So what is the point of these political games? I do not mind one bit if these political parties destroy each other, as I find them the key to the lack of real accountability to the people of Canada. Canadians have very little ability to hold our elected members to act in our best interest. The parties have designed the system and they demand loyalty from their candidate, but where do Canadians fit into this equation? I fail to see our power in this design. I do however dislike watching the victim/hero drama play out and the many very good people being destroyed, belittled and often misled, through these events. Unlike sporting events, after the games have ended we will not go back to our lives, instead we will begin to live with unkept promises, laws we don’t understand, rules for us to live by and not once will we realize the role we’ve played in the game. If the past defines the future, we can look forward to members getting elected under one party banner and then if they don’t get a position in government, they simply join the party that can give them that position and leave the voters in the dust. It’s perfectly acceptable, because its part of the rules they created for themselves. We are more than spectators in this sport and it is time Canadians realized it. These events may have a declared winner and loser on the stage, but history has shown us that no matter which party wins, under the current rules of the game, the people always end up paying the ultimate price! We cannot hold the member accountable to us, the party holds them accountable to them. We have no way of knowing what the party has agreed to behind closed doors. The game we see is not the only story. The major parties have set the electoral process in Canada. They designed the rules for the rest to play by. This is what is so frustrating to Canadians. They do not understand why they cannot hold their elected mp to their promises to the people, or why legislation is brought in that is not in the best interest of the people. The key is the power within the party not in parliament. There is no point in saying one side or the other has a hidden agenda, because none are made public. While one party seeks to destroy the other, they also destroy the people who have built the party, the people who fund the party and who believe they are electing members to represent them. When the goal is destruction, you can bet the result will be the same. In reality the people are never on the winning side, we are made to think we won when our ‘candidate’ wins. Any funding provided toward Canadian interests is our money in the first place; so why do we allow a few people to play with our money and use it as a tool for their war? As we listen to this build up to an election we need to be aware of the illusion. We paid for the changes to election laws that set fixed election dates. We argued for and against, but now that it is set the ‘winning’ party has decided they don’t accept what they won. We need an attitude adjustment in Canada. It is our attitude of apathy, or ignorance, or blind trust that has allowed this current system to flourish. We cannot ignore it because it is the system that creates the laws we live by. Neither should we accept that, ‘there is nothing we can do’. We can demand that our elected officials resume their duties until the next election in the fall of 2009. Rather than threaten to bring down the government over the issues, they ought to find a method of negotiation to create win-win solutions. If the legislation put forward to be discussed is detrimental to the people or our environment then it must be dropped. The people must be informed. When a party pushes through a Bill which is detrimental to Canadians, and the others abstain, rather than voting against it, nothing has been won. The question for the people of Canada must always be, ‘how did this affect us?’ rather than accepting that our party won something. Pitting Canadians against each other is not good government. If an industry is created in one region that creates jobs but also creates pollution or contaminates the water flowing downstream, it is not a win-win situation for the people. When our neighbours are not looked after, we suffer by default. When our neighbour loses their job, can’t feed their kids, cloth them, or pay medical bills, they can’t look after their property either and our property values go down. Poverty affects the entire community. If some of us are losing, then we are all losing. No ‘man’ is an island, even in Canada. We must stop allowing ourselves to be divided and brought into these counterproductive political games. We never win. Governments role is not to win us over. It is not their job to find ways to control us or manipulate us into submission. They are us. They ought to be expected to consider the issues before them, the issues that are affecting Canadians. They are expected to listen, to weight the pros and cons of policies and seek out solutions that enhance the quality of our lives. Canadians want responsible government, not political war games! The parties are using our money to play the game and to reward the winner, while sacrificing the people in the process. These political games are serious business. Perhaps Canadians ought to let the players know that we have enough entertainment in our lives; we don’t need it in politics. Further we might want to redefine the rules of engagement! COIC is encouraging independent patriotic Canadians to think outside of the box that confines us and consider running in the next Federal election. Sometimes when you need something done right, you have to do it yourself! Canadians need representation that speaks our language. Representation that is open to full discloser of facts, research and knowledge and is applied in a fair and just manner. This is our time Canada and it can only happen with your effort! For more info on COIC go to our website : www.coic.ca http://www.elections.ca/content.asp?section=gen&document=part2&dir=ces&lang=e&anchor=29&textonly=false#29http://www.mytelus.com/ncp_news/article.en.do?pn=regional/alberta&articleID=2983698http://www.coic.cashapeimage_2_link_0shapeimage_2_link_1shapeimage_2_link_2
The Pen is Mightier than the Sword! Every time!
 
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