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Politicking in Canada needs a reboot. Time to for our leadership (and the rest of us) to go “Back to the Future”.
POLITICKING IN CANADA NEEDS FIXING!
What do I mean by politicking? I’m referring to someone taking a posture for political gain. For example, today I was listening to a Conservative opposition critic talking about the COVID-19 issues here in Canada. He made many references to the Prime Minister having taken specific actions or having given specific directions to take actions as a government.
Our politicians have fallen into the defensive trap. There is a natural instinct for “fight or flight” when we feel trapped. I don’t think politicians are any different than a husband and wife trying to resolve an issue. When communicating effectively, they can overcome any obstacle. They don’t initially have to agree and sometimes need to agree to disagree. When one attacks the other, we revert to an instinctive reaction. Fight or flight. When politicians are fighting each other, no one wins. When they lose, the whole nation loses.
HISTORY
I remember a time when watching political discussion or debate and it wasn’t acceptable to point at an individual literally or figuratively. In Canada a discussion was more likely to sound like “The Liberals have done nothing to support Canada’s oil industry and have constantly blocked efforts to move Canadian oil to the east coast”. Or “The Conservatives are only interested in supporting their cronies in the business world at the cost of the working class Canadian”.
In those days society as a whole had way more respect for each other and were more likely to recognize that when it comes to creating national policy, there isn’t any one individual that dictates the outcome. Yes, leaders exert influence within the party but they were chosen as the leader for a reason. Within parties, there was private healthy debate before presenting a unified public face. The leader would then either present the policy publicly for debate or assign a minister responsible for the affected ministry to do so. Parties long outlive their leaders so who is ultimately responsible?
POLITICKING TODAY
Today, politicking is at its worst! It’s more likely that today’s politician would use the personal name of the leader of the respective parties in order to discredit the individual and probably in the hopes it would fracture the opposing party as a whole. We have sunk to the worst level possible. As much as I have always Canadians need to stand up for themselves, I never believed we should be attacking others to raise ourselves up.
Can we change politicking today? COVID-19 has brought the whole world to a crossroads. We are in a time that will lead to renewal. Just as a forest fire cleanses the earth allowing for new growth, we will have the opportunity to make drastic changes to how we behave as a society.
POLITICKING TOMORROW
We better have learned from the past. I would like to see our country go “Back to the Future” and take some of those mores and bring them to the future with us. I’m not saying we should go back rather, I’m saying let’s bring some of the old forward.
I’m proud of our progress on diversity. We are approaching equality of the sexes, still a long way to go but much improved. The same can be said of Canada’s melting pot. There are so many new cultures that have been introduced over the last 50 years. We have so many differences to draw on to create our new Canadian identity if we can stop fighting rather, we should be engaging in healthy debate before presenting a unified front to the world.
Let’s bring some decorum from the past and add it to what we have learned over the years to create a more collaborative politicking future. Tell your local politicians to stop politicking and start doing the business you elected them for.
Make it a great day!
Barry
P.S. I’m thankful for the right to vote, the right to speak my mind truthfully and civilly and for our diverse country.
What are you thankful for today?
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