Do your part to save democracy - From the Cluttered Desk with Keith Roulston

The current hearings into possible federal election interference by foreign powers have also demonstrated that, in modern times, the entire election process has been turned on its head. What’s “down” is suddenly “up” and vice versa.

 

The Canadian election process has been turned upside down in recent years. The idea originally was that members of each party at the riding level decided on the best local candidate, based on their work on the homefront. Voters then selected the best of these servants of the local area to represent us in Ottawa, or provincially, in Toronto, and the best people were sent to the capital to represent us, then the best of these was chosen to be party leader, and you had the best leader of the party with the most elected candidates as prime minister or premier.

 

It hasn’t been that way for a long time, of course. Everything is top-down these days. Oh there’s one more democratic move in recent years as party members have been given the choice of who will be party leaders through national conventions. But once the leader is chosen by party members, he/she is in charge.

 

So, in many cases, someone is not chosen as the local candidate for office without the approval of the party leader. On the other hand, most of the time in the federal or provincial election, we, the local voters, don’t send who is generally regarded as the best candidate but, rather, the representative of the party we choose to lead the country or province. Now and then there are variations. I recall when this generally Conservative riding with a strong Conservative provincial government elected Murray Gaunt of the Liberals year after year because he was so popular from being a farm director on CKNX Radio and TV – and he proved that the voters from his home riding had made a good choice by working his butt off.

 

For the most part, though, parties are top-down nowadays. But one way or another, things can go wrong, and that’s what the hearings on foreign interference in elections are about.

 

Appearing before the hearing, Han Dong, originally a Liberal but an independent since the scandal over possible Chinese election interference, asked international students from China to vote for him to get the party nomination in 2019. It’s alleged that a Chinese government official threatened Chinese students, implying that their study permits would be in jeopardy if they didn’t support Dong (even though they weren’t Canadian citizens). Some Canadian intelligence officials suggest the Chinese agent may have given documents to students who didn’t even live in the riding.

 

All of this shows the vulnerability of Liberal Party regulations, critics say. At a nomination meeting, the busload of non-Canadian students might be enough to win the nomination for a candidate.

 

But the problems aren’t all the Liberals’. Each party has its own regulations at the party level and, in the age of foreign interference, that makes them the weak link in the Canadian democratic system. Parties want young people and new Canadians who aren’t yet citizens to get involved because it’s a sign of growth.

 

Different parties have different paths. In February, Pierre Poilievre’s Conservatives called a nomination vote in the Richmond Hill riding, but set the cut-off day for local electors only two days later, 

 

The Liberals, on the other hand, in 2014, disqualified a long-time member, Christine Innes from running in a by-election in Trinity-Spadina riding after she wouldn’t sign a promise that she wouldn’t run the next year when her riding was redistricted and was to be contested by Chrystia Freeland, who was sought by the party hierarchy.

 

In an interview with The Globe and Mail, Jaskaran Sandu of the Sikh Coalition suggested that Indian government diplomats have pushed political parties to ban some Sikh candidates that India opposes.

 

Seeing this interest by representatives of foreign governments to influence our governments should stir Canadians to get involved when they often feel their vote doesn’t matter. Obviously every vote counts and who we send to parliament or the provincial legislature matters.

 

Democracy only works when enough of the public thinks it matters: when people join parties and help nominate deserving candidates who have shown, through their activities, that they will work for the benefit of the people of their riding. Then the rest of us need to investigate to see which of the local candidates is most deserving and look at the party she/he represents and whether they would best lead the country or province.

 

Democracy only works when we citizens stay involved, We take a chance on losing the best government system ever invented when we retreat and don’t play our part as citizens.