"You want free speech? Let's see you acknowledge a man whose words make your blood boil, who's standing center stage and advocating at the top of his lungs that which you would spend a lifetime opposing at the top of yours. You want to claim this land as the land of the free? Then the symbol of your country cannot just be a flag. The symbol also has to be one of its citizens exercising his right to burn that flag in protest. Now show me that, defend that, celebrate that in your classrooms."
My Way or the Highway
It is difficult to visualize Michael Douglas uttering words like these if he were playing the lead role in a movie called The Canadian Prime Minister. An open-minded and tolerant approach to different points of view is very hard to find in the behaviour of Stephen Harper (and his Cabinet). The government’s position is that you either support its initiatives or you are the enemy. This confrontational attitude was dramatically illustrated in February 2012 when Public Safety Minister Vic Toes indicated that people (including opposition politicians) either supported new legislation giving police greater access to information on the Internet or they were supporting child pornographers.
Consider this additional example of the current government’s combative attitude on most matters. The opposition parties recently pressed the government as to why the Ministry of Defence had for four months declined to provide information requested by the Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO) so that it could determine the cost of our mission in Iraq. The PBO, it might be noted, had been established by the Conservatives to provide independent analysis of the state of the nation’s finances. Responding to a question from a Liberal MP, Jason Kenney attacked the Liberal Party for opposing the mission in Iraq and for standing against efforts to protect Canadians from terrorist organizations.
Democracy Depends on Civilized Debate
This “take no prisoners” approach to governing should be a cause of great concern. However effective – or ineffective – as a political tactic, it has a corrosive effect on the deliberations of Parliament and the civility of public discourse. A healthy democracy needs to have thoughtful debate and thorough considerations of issues and alternatives. It has always been the case that a strong opposition makes for a better government. Those in power need to be challenged, they need to explain and defend the approaches they wish to pursue. When opposition parties are demonized because they dare to ask legitimate questions or raise concerns, democracy is under threat. In addition, the poisonous exchanges that now characterize debate in the House of Commons add to the widespread cynicism about politicians. How can we respect politicians when they don’t show any respect for each other?
In response, more and more Canadians tune out and disengage from the political process. But it is exactly the opposite public response that is required. Canadians need to tell their elected representatives that bullying and boorish behaviour will no longer be tolerated. We should demand that governments accept the give and take that is inherent in a properly functioning democratic system if they wish to have our support.