It is the ho-hum time between New Year’s and the real reasons for having a January. In our area, that just means more damn snow. At least the ski hills are buzzing.
But we want to talk about how we vote and who we vote for and what’s wrong with our constitution. For a political junky, that is our life’s blood. And yah, we know—it’s can be a snore to many. We can read our readership stats and we know that subject can cause readership to plummet. And how can we get people to pay attention?
We spent most of last summer watching the so-called experts talking to the special commons committee on electoral reform. We think they missed the point in terms of what Canada needs but the ultimate committee findings made sense. The committee concluded that more time was needed, more involvement by Canadians was needed and some serious thinking.
The committee made the minister of democratic reform look incompetent and the prime minister look unreasonable. And they are. They were tackling all the democratic reform questions from the wrong perspective.
Reform is a top down process. In business and in politics, anyone can tell you that change has to have strong support. It has to have leadership. (And obviously not necessarily competent leadership judging by Mr. Trump.)
The most difficult problems in our Canadian government are located in the Langevin Block on the north side of Ottawa’s Wellington Street. It is the home of the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) and the Privy Council Office. The Clerk of the Privy Council is the number one civil servant in Ottawa. He or she is the equivalent in business of a chief operating officer. The Prime Minister, in turn, is equivalent to the chief executive officer.
The problems were there for all to see during the Harper years. He could prorogue parliament at his convenience. He could make wholesale appointments to the Senate. And just because today there is someone you might like in charge is no reason not to demand the changes that our country so desperately needs.
Reform has to start in the Langevin Block. It was Pierre Trudeau in 1968 who had worked in the Privy Council Office who put the two key offices in close working relationship. It was Pierre Trudeau who also said to CBC reporter Tim Ralfe to “Just watch me” in regards to the lengths he would go to against the Front de Liberation du Quebec (FLQ) in October 1970. It was not an idle comment.
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Copyright 2017 © Peter Lowry
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