IS DEMOCRACY DEAD IN CANADA?


Never in the eight years that I have had the honour of being a Member of Parliament have I seen our parliamentary system so dysfunctional. It has led many people to ask the question whether Ottawa matters at all, for our once proud democracy has quietly morphed into a dictatorship.

Today we have a government controlled not by the people, but by a small band of unelected, invisible, unaccountable individuals in the Prime Minister's Office. This group tells MPs, and to a large extent Cabinet, what to do and when to do it. The PMO looks at government policy through the prism of polls. When half the country supports you, why rock the boat? So now the name of the game in the PMO is to give the public the illusion you are doing something when, in fact, you are simply running the system quickly in the same spot. The goal is certainly not to be innovative and vigorously address our nation's challenges in a timely manner.

Take for example our crisis in health care, the most important issue
affecting Canadians. The Minister of Health, Alan Rock, recently said to the provinces that rather than taking bold initiatives to deal with the
thousands of Canadians suffering in silence on waiting lists, the provinces should just wait for the $15 million Romanow Commission to release its findings in November, 2002. This would be reasonable if not for the fact that there are dozens of reports containing superb suggestions on how to save our public health care system, not the least of which is Prime Minister Chrétien's own Blue Ribbon Panel Report on health care, completed 7 years ago. Whatever happened to that document? Why were its solutions never implemented? And why should we believe that the feds are going to enact Mr. Romanow's recommendations, when they didn't listen to the Prime Minister's
own panel of health experts?

This matter of doing a lot while really doing very little hits its nadir in
Parliament's Standing Committees. These committees parallel government ministries. Members of Parliament spend 50% or more of their time sitting on these government controlled committees mostly doing studies, but sometimes reviewing legislation. They consume much public money and the valuable time of hundreds of parliamentary employees. The sad thing is that most of these studies are rarely used for anything other than a doorstop. MPs know this, yet persist with the sham, wasting their time, that of parliamentary staff, and the public's money.

That this is allowed to continue is a testament to the rigorous control the PMO has over the MPs and the system, and how innovation and independent thought is actively penalized. Being proactive and demonstrating leadership on issues is a one-way ticket to being ostracized from your colleagues and the system. That committees can do meaningful work, as they do in the United States Congress, is an objective that is easily attainable. The profound frustration arising from this dysfunctional system is borne by members from all political parties.

As a member of the Opposition I have also seen the tools that I have to
pressure the government and change public opinion slowly eroded over time. Our declining access to lawyers necessary to craft Private Member's Bills, and the heavy-handed use of closure (the Government has stopped debate on Bills 72 times since coming to power), has diminished the MPs freedom of speech. Furthermore, the concentration of the media in the hands of the few, cuts in budgets and the axing of reporters has shrivelled the scope of ideas the Canadian public can hear or see. This has led to a dumbing down in public discourse. It is interesting to compare European media stories with
those in Canada. The variety of stories and the depth of reporting are far greater in the European media, in part due to the greater competition compared to what we have here at home.

To change this sorry state of affairs requires a change in leadership style, public involvement, and, most importantly, action. Parliament must be reformed to allow MPs to tackle problems that matter to the public. The public needs to become engaged in the public process, or risk becoming a victim of it.

These are some of the greatest challenges we face in Canada, for
democratizing our parliamentary institutions and truly having a free press will enable our best ideas to be brought to bear on the problems we all face.


Keith Martin, MP

It is of interest to note that Mr. Martin received a good deal of flack over his "grabbing of the holy mace" in parliament. Members of the ruling 'junta' (federal Liberals) actually wanted him booted from his elected seat in parliament.

Contrast their reaction, to the ruling of the BC Court of Appeal who disgraced their solemn oath to "the Queen" , yet, like the three monkeys, they boldly declare our Queens Great Charter of no force or effect with regard to our constitution. Huh?

I remind you that the constitution was signed into Canadian Law by none other than "her Majesty" and that under both the BNA Act, AND section 26 of the Canada Act, the Magna Carta most definitely does have constitutional validity.

The BC Court of Appeal has committed high treason in as much as they have undermined the clear and unequivocal authority of the Sovereign, which our cowardly MP's only feign to regard with esteem.

 

 Picture shows "Royal Mace" of British Parliament which is similar to the Mace used by all levels of government in Canada....

Is this "wand" really the "magical source of God-like authority" of parliament to infringe your rights as the BC Court of Appeal claims? Or is it just an expensive paper weight?

 

How can "our parliament" hold more reverence for a golden paper weight than our Eternal Magna Carta - which was presented and sworn to "the Church" by no less than three Kings?

 

 Picture at left shows "Royal Mace" in BC Legislature. Tradition holds that no laws can be amended or passed without the mace present...

 

 

 

 

 Picture at left shows Vancouver City Council with "Royal Mace" present.... Same traditions apply as that of BC Legislature...

You are witness to the world's biggest cult of false belief and authority = the Church of Government.