Does Parliament matter anymore?

TORONTO—Does Parliament matter anymore? Are political parties anything more than corporate brands? Are our MPs largely irrelevant? Do our prime minsters see themselves as presidents? And if so, what does this mean for trust in our political system and democracy? Without this trust, how can Canadians come together to make the hard choices needed to get things done for the benefit of our country? Loss of trust means a splintering nation without shared goals. As respected economic commentator Martin Wolf writes in his book, The Crisis of Democratic Capitalism, there is an urgent need to restore a sense of citizenship: “This is the tie that binds people together in a free and democratic society.” Essential to citizenship, Wolf argues, is “loyalty to democratic, political and legal institutions and the values of open debate and mutual respect that underpin them.” But this needed confidence in our political institutions is being eroded with the undermining of Parliament and our political processes. Yet, none of this seems to worry our politicians, or at least not enough for any of them to raise alarms. In fact, it is our politicians who are undermining our democracy. Their leaders and leaders’ staffers seem to see the parliamentary system as a nuisance. Both then-prime minster Stephen Harper and current Prime Minister Justin Trudeau showed disdain for Parliament. Their fondness for budget omnibus bills that significantly weaken parliamentary scrutiny is just one example. It’s all about control. Our MPs have accepted this centralization of power, in part because it is the party leader who must sign their nomination papers so they can run for office. Their loyalty can be more to the leader than to the riding they purportedly represent. And because politics has become a branding exercise with core messages, everyone must stick to the talking points. MPs who disagree with the leader are treated as “disloyal” and subject to punishment. The House is further undermined by the Liberal-NDP vote which turns the Commons and its committees into little more than Zoom sessions. MPs will no longer have to come to Parliament under the hybrid system now recently made permanent. The House of Commons is no longer the great chamber where matters of state will be decided; instead, MPs can work from home and play what inevitably will be a reduced role in public debate and the actual role of Parliament in seeking consensus and compromise over spending, legislation, investigation and accountability. Wayne Easter, a former Liberal MP and cabinet minister, has warned about the dangers to democracy posed by this move to a permanent hybrid Parliament. As he told The Hill Times on June 19, “this new system takes power away from Members of Parliament and hands it over the whip’s office and the leader’s office.” As Easter warns, this will affect all aspects of an MP’s parliamentary role and effectiveness—which includes participating in parliamentary debates, working on the committees that scrutinize legislation, reviewing departmental spending estimates, preparing reports on public policy issues, and taking part in caucus meetings. Because you are not there, Easter contends, you are less effective as an MP, and Parliament is less effective for Canadians. Liberal MPs even voted recently against much-needed reforms to our access-to-information system despite a recent Commons committee report that included Liberal promises made in the 2015 election for more open government, promises quickly dropped once in power. Canadians can be excused for being cynical. It's not just Parliament. Political parties are becoming less relevant. They have ceased to be groups of like-minded people who debate and advocate public policy. Today, policies are decided in the leader’s office and political parties are really marketing brands, not places where the future of the country is earnestly fought. In fact, Trudeau has declared the Liberal Party is no longer a party; it is “a movement." The recent national convention showed how Liberals have turned their party into a centralized corporation big on message control. The convention saw no challenging speakers or debate over big issues. Instead, delegates were treated to a love-in between an American political figure from the past—Hillary Clinton—and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland. Although the Liberal Party claims it has “the most open and accessible grassroots policy development process in Canadian politics,” the convention showed it was more an empty shell. The Liberals adopted just 24 resolutions calling for—among other things—more passenger rail travel, a four-week vacation with pay for federally regulated workers, more money for farmers, three Indigenous appointees to the Supreme Court, subsidies for cities that closed “major commercial streets” to car traffic, and a law to ensure that political candidates make only accurate public statements. These and other resolutions were no doubt well-meaning, but the delegates ignored big challenges such as how to improve the economy's productivity and wealth creation, strengthen Canadian ownership of our emerging tech firms, address fiscal challenges, or deal with artificial intelligence. We should not expect anything much different at the upcoming Conservative Party policy convention. Harper’s agenda is still the holy grail. So we should not expect a serious debate among CPC members on tough issues such as climate change, just further vilification of the Trudeau government. But we may not get much more as the leadership focuses on message control. Membership in riding associations is also increasingly irrelevant as parties accelerate the practice of imposing outside candidates, denying local members the chance to choose their candidate. Party members at the local level are simply there to raise funds and knock on doors at election time. Yet as Turkish-American economist Daron Acemoglu reminds us in a recent Foreign Affairs essay, “democracy cannot be engineered by clever constitutions; it requires people to get involved in the political process and make their voices heard.” Diminishing riding associations further weakens our democratic institutions and public trust. Politics is in bad shape. Without genuine reform, Canada will become more difficult to govern, and we will pay a price for that. Is there not a single MP today willing to show some leadership? David Crane can be reached at crane@interlog.com. The Hill Times