Earlier today I received a tweet from Occupy Sydney inviting me to comment on a essay called Democracy.I was surprised to receive the invitation for a couple of reasons. First and foremost, I am not a constitutional scholar and would only be able to comment as a citizen living in a democratic country. Secondly, I have been somewhat critical of the Occupy movement lately and was surprised that anyone in Occupy would actually want to consider my opinion.
Still, I believe in dialogue, especially dialogue with those with whom you don't agree so I gave up my plan to goof off with my dog Jasper on a damp Friday afternoon and settled down to read the Democracy essay.
I was surprised to discover that Democracy was written by former member of Parliament, Bill Blakie. While Mr. Blakie and I are not on the same side of the political spectrum (the NDP are a socialist party). I have always had a considerable respect for him. He is well-known for his integrity and his intellect, as well as, his good humour. He's a big guy with a big personality and a sharp mind.
He served in government for 32 years first in federal politics until 2008 and then provincially until earlier this year. He retired in late winter and is now a professor of theology. His essay is well researched, articulate and accurate as far as it goes but it is an academic review of Canadian democracy that is not put in practical context and it is that context I want to address here.
The cornerstone of his essay is the concentration of power in the hands of the Prime Minister of Canada and constitutionally, he is correct but he leaves out certain key elements that balance that power. To understand that context, a quick overview of Canada's system of government.
Canada is a parliamentary democracy based on the British system. It has two arms of government, a legislative branch and a judiciary. Technically it has an executive branch in the monarch but does not have an executive branch similar to that in the United States. Most, but not all, executive authority is vested in the Prime Minister who sits, with his/her party in the House of Commons which is part of the legislative branch of government. All members of the House of Commons are elected.
The Legislative Branch of Canadian Government
Canada uses a party system as do most democracies and has a "first past the post" electoral process which means that the party with the most seats usually forms the government. I say usually because while it is true that the winning party always forms the government if it has won more seats than all of the opposition parties combined, it is possible under our constitution for the opposition parties to form a coalition and form a government if their total seat count is higher than that of the winning party. In this scenario, the decision is exclusively in the hands of the Governor General who has the authority to ask the party who won the most seats to try and govern or in the alternative, to invite the opposition coalition to try and form a government.
All members of the House of Commons, including the Prime Minister are elected directly by the people and each represents a specific electoral riding in the country. The Cabinet is appointed by the Prime Minister from within his/her own group of sitting members of parliament (although, he/she has the prerogative to appoint a member of the senate to cabinet as well). It makes sense to leave cabinet appointments to the Prime Minister because they not only constitute his/her advisory group in the development of policy but also act on his/her behalf as heads of various government ministries. It would severely restrict a Prime Minister and his or her government in moving their agenda forward if cabinet appointments were made by an independent committee.
The other arm of the legislative branch is the senate which is smaller than the House of Commons and who's members are appointed by the Prime Minister. While the Senate technically has the right to propose legislation, they do no have the political support or a mandate from the people for it and almost never do. It should be noted that while the Prime Minister has the authority to appoint senators, that authority is only available to him/her when there is a vacancy. This prevents the Prime Minister from stacking the Senate in his/her favour and in fact, prime ministers have no constitutional choice but to live with a senate that is comprised of members mostly appointed by their predecessors.
The Senate in Canada serves primarily as a house of sober second thought. Their primary responsibility has evolved to that of reviewing legislation passed by the House of Commons and either approving it or sending it back to the House with amendments for consideration. The Senate cannot veto legislation because they are not elected by the people.
The Judicial Branch of Government
The Supreme Court of Canada is Canada's highest court and the court of last appeal. Canada's judicial system is pyramidal, with many different levels of courts who's judges are appointed by either the provincial or federal governments. The Prime Minister appoints judges to the Supreme Court.
Again, as with the Senate, the Prime Minister can only appoint new judges to the Supreme Court to fill a vacancy and cannot reconstitute the court in his or her favour. As with the Senate, the current prime minister has no choice but to live with the court constituted by his/her predecessors if no seats become vacant.
The Supreme Court is completely separated from government interference or political influence and has the authority to over-turn legislation brought before it that it deems to be in contravention of the Constitution or Canada's Charter of Rights and Freedoms. This prevents any government from enacting restrictions on the rights guaranteed to Canadian citizens by its constitution and its charter.
The way the Democracy essay is written makes it appear as if the prime minister of Canada has more executive power than the President of the United States but that simply isn't true. The prime minister is the leader of his/her party and is elected by his/her party and serves as leader at the pleasure of members of the party. He or she can be removed as leader by that same party following a leadership review set out by the constitutions of each party.
I'm not going to address every point raised in the democracy essay but I will address the overall point about the concentration of power in the hands of the Prime Minister. Canada is a constitutional monarchy and it is the monarch who is the head of state. The Governor General (GG) represents and is appointed by the monarch on the advise of the Prime Minister. The GG is the head of Canada's armed forces although takes no practical role in their operation and as already noted, has the constitutional right to dissolve parliament, call elections and determine who should form a government in a minority parliament. The Prime Minister can recommend, advise (and sometimes beg) but these powers are the exclusive prerogative of the GG and only the GG.
Some of the power Mr. Blaikie attributes to the Prime Minister, such as preventing someone from running for office or removing them from his/her caucus have nothing to do with government. They are party authorities granted to the leaders of all political parties by their own party. The leader of Mr.Blaikie's former party had the same authority granted to him by his party and not by our constitution.
I could drone on and on but even I am beginning to find this pretty dry stuff. So let's cut to the chase.
The simple fact is that while it is far from perfect, Canada has a functioning democracy where power is not constitutionally concentrated in the hands of a few or even one person. Under the American model, a considerable amount of power is placed in the hands of the President and balanced by placing a similar amount of power in the hands of their legislature. Both systems work, as far as they go and both are imperfect.
That's the trouble with democracy. It's virtually impossible to make it perfect. The reason lies in the fact that democracy is an ideal but it is a shared ideal. The trouble with shared ideals is that we all have a slightly different opinion on how best to achieve them. Consequently, democracy ends up being a messy compromise of ideals where everyone gets some of what they want but nobody gets everything they believe in. Democracy is a government system built on consensus rather than an absolute. Only ideals are absolute but in practice, only compromise is workable.
Unlike the American system, the Canadian system relies on a dispersal of power. What Mr. Blaikie fails to mention is that Canada is actually a federation comprised of provinces and territories and that there is a significant balance of power between the federal and provincial governments. It is the provinces, under a complex formula, who approve or disapprove any change to the country's constitution. Further, the constitution contains a "not withstanding clause" which allows any province to opt out of a government program or act in contravention of federal legislation if it sees fit.
It isn't perfect but it works in its way. The real problem with our democracy is not its constitutional structure but the fact that it has been hijacked by political parties and their backroom strategists, pollsters, special interest groups (most of whom are in the 99%) all supported by a mainstream media that is typically too lazy to be as critical as it should. Changing the constitution won't address those issues, only the electorate through protest and putting pressure on its elected representatives has a chance ofachieving it.
I had hope that the Occupy Movement would be the catalyst for some of that pressure but became disillusioned once I saw the drivel being expressed by too many as the movement expanded. Only serious people who understand the real issues and who can offer up real solutions will be taken seriously. People who run around sloganeering, jump from issue to issue often without much knowledge or thought and those who believe that the best way to win is to yell louder than everyone else won't accomplish much. Want proof? We had people like that before Occupy. They're called politicians and look what they've accomplished. Why would any protest movement want to emulate them?
When I read posts and tweets from members of Occupy that just don't get their facts right, I get frustrated but what frustrates me even more is that Occupy doesn't get it. The very fact that they are in the squares and parks of cities around the world, the very fact that they can post and tweet that drivel and the very fact that they can stand up and call for change is democracy's greatest strength. As imperfect as all of the democracies in the world may be, they are still a thousand times better than regimes like Syria and North Korea.
When I read a tweet from some member of Occupy claiming the movement is under brutal attack by police who are evicting them from the park and arresting them when they don't obey, I think about all the people in those non-democratic countries who were tortured, who were oppressed and died in pursuit of what we have and too many take for granted.
It isn't about democracy, it should be about working to make our democracy better. You can't do that by defecating on police cars, posting poorly informed and often completely incorrect accusations against government and business or shouting out meaningless slogans that only turn away the movement's best opportunity for support....the majority of us who actually are the 99%.
Occupy was given an opportunity. It started well but is faltering now because it has not learned from history. It was not prepared for the responsibility of protest, only the opportunity to protest. That opportunity was granted by the very democracies they shout at now but clearly don't understand.
For those who are interested, here is the linke Mr. Blakie's essay on Democracy
http://occupysydney.visibli.com/share/cgloPL
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