Department of Culture

By Michael Wheeler

The opposition will slip into irrelevance and play directly into Stephen Harper’s plans unless they present a united pro-democracy federalist coalition before the next election.

Harper’s latest prorogation of Parliament immediately follows the majority of Parliament passing an “order-to-produce” that demands access to documents that may prove damaging to the government and may include proof of war crimes. It is possibly the single greatest threat we will see to Canadian democracy in our lifetimes.

Although it does not break any laws specifically, shutting down Parliament at this moment is entirely contrary to the spirit of how Parliament must function to be democratic. It also renders Parliament powerless heading into the future by setting a dangerous precedent that allows a Prime Minister to ignore the will of a majority of Members of Parliament. Future governments of any political stripe that grow tired of answering questions, or don’t like what the opposition is asking questions about, may now effectively suspend democracy whenever it suits them.

There can only be one response to this from the Canadian public: Total rejection of the anti-democratic party at the ballot box. The response must be so damaging to the party trying to devalue and undermine the will of Parliament that the political lesson for future politicians to be learned from this will be clear and incontrovertible:

If you try to remove the will and representatives of the majority of Canadians and MPs from Parliament, the next time there is an election Canadians will ensure that most of your members do not return to Ottawa.

Parliament is Supreme. This is not an argument. It is a principle that forms the bedrock of our democratic system. The only way to safeguard it is to enshrine it as a permanent third rail of Canadian politics. The only people who can do that are us. The only way we can do it is demand that the political opposition presents this as an option.

Although I emailed Michelle Jean and asked her not to accept the Prime Minister’s request for prorogation, I later regretted it. Canadian democracy is not as strong as the representative of Her Majesty The Queen. It is a strong as our own will as citizens to find solutions and demand from our political parties that our options at the ballot box represent those solutions.

A united Green, Liberal, and NDP, opposition has the ability to bring about this consequence. In fact, it is the only feasible way to prevent the minority of far-right ideologues that have taken control of the levers of power from further disembowelling Canadian democracy through a majority government engineered through a taxpayer-funded propaganda campaign, a gerrymandered first-past-the post system, and a discouraged and disengaged electorate. The public does not like any of their options right now and they are tuning out. The 2008 election had the worst turnout by percentage in history. Right now the response from a huge amount of Canadians is: “D: None of the above.”

A new option has to be put on the table and soon. If the personalities don’t inspire individually, then the idea that they represent will: A pro-democracy coalition that sets aside real differences for the good of the country.

More than seven million people voted for these three parties in the 2008 election, compared to just over five million for a Harper government. The ability to remove Stephen Harper as dictator is conceivable and possible in this moment, but not forever: Public financing for parties still exists, citizens are outraged that we have become an embarrassment on the international stage and at home, 62% of Canadians did not vote for Stephen Harper last time we had an election.

Like some ancient Zen riddle, the only thing stopping us from helping ourselves is ourselves.

I do not make this argument naïvely. There are many barriers and decades of animosity to overcome to make this a reality. In many urban centres the Conservatives are already so discredited that these potential partners are the only real competition to represent Canadians in those ridings. Years of competition has created real and emotional rivalries in a sustained era of mutual distrust.

The point is that all these grudges, grievances, and even significant policy differences, pale in comparison to the consequences of letting the fundamental and basic principals of our democracy be trampled in the manner they are currently, and as they will be permanently, under a Harper Majority. These sorts of statements are no longer hyperbolic or inflammatory. They are a reasonable assessment of the facts and recent events.

Step one: Defeat Stephen Harper in an election. Step two: Figure out who is going to give up what, and haggle for what, as part of the pro-democracy government that represents a majority of Canadians and MPs. Do not put the cart before the horse. If there’s one thing the Conservatives are right about, it is that Canadians don’t care about petty Beltway nonsense. They want, and will vote for, a reasonable solution that puts the good of the nation above personal gain.

The biggest barrier to this happening is, like many so many political intrigues, hubris. For prominent New Democrats it means not only admitting that in 2010 Canadians will not elect Jack Layton as PM, but that even being Leader of the Opposition with Harper as PM is irresponsible and self-serving.

For Chretien-era Liberal war room vets, it means admitting to themselves that their earlier victories were dependent on The Right being divided and unprofessional. They have to acknowledge that in the near future, they are not naturally entitled to the reins of power, but must form partnerships to obtain their fair share of it.

That’s it. A couple of honest conversations with themselves by a few prominent advisors in the Liberal Party and the New Democratic Party are all it would take. The Greens would be on board in a heartbeat. For all three parties, it means admitting that they cannot solve Canada’s problems alone, but that that they CAN and WILL with their allies. Doing this now removes all of the uncomfortable consequences of being in league with the Bloc, like the coalition that arose following the 2008 November economic update. This is not a separatist coalition. 2010 can be the year of a federalist pro-democracy coalition.

History will judge this moment with intense scrutiny regardless of the strategy chosen to respond to the suspension of democracy for partisan and personal gain. Whether Ignatieff, Layton and May are remembered as the champions of our democratic system, or ineffectual, bickering pawns that facilitated its demise, remains to be seen. In either scenario we will only have ourselves to blame as citizens if we don’t demand a pro-democracy option at the ballot box.

Michael Wheeler is Co-Artistic Director of Praxis Theatre and a founding member of Department of Culture.