Democracy Gone Astray

Democracy, being a human construct, needs to be thought of as directionality rather than an object. As such, to understand it requires not so much a description of existing structures and/or other related phenomena but a declaration of intentionality.
This blog aims at creating labeled lists of published infringements of such intentionality, of points in time where democracy strays from its intended directionality. In addition to outright infringements, this blog also collects important contemporary information and/or discussions that impact our socio-political landscape.

All the posts here were published in the electronic media – main-stream as well as fringe, and maintain links to the original texts.

[NOTE: Due to changes I haven't caught on time in the blogging software, all of the 'Original Article' links were nullified between September 11, 2012 and December 11, 2012. My apologies.]

Thursday, January 26, 2012

Seeking elected office should never be about the money

It simply blows me away that we are spending a nanosecond on a discussion about outrageous MPs’ pay, pension, and perks while a huge number of people in the country are hurting.

Interim NDP leader Nycole Turmel tried yesterday to deflect the issue of MP pensions by calling on the Harper Government to ask a third party to review the matter.

Turmel’s suggestion is precisely why MP compensation should be slashed. MPs should be demonstrating national leadership and be examples for the rest of the country, not spending their time defending and protecting their own paycheque.

There are almost 1.5 million people who have declared themselves to be unemployed in Canada. Last quarter, our economy barely inched forward at 0.9%. Were it not for a commodity boom, unemployment would be a lot higher and the economy would be massively contracting.

While the federal balance sheet is relatively healthy, the total national debt (which includes what is carried by the provinces) is close to 80% of GDP. The government should be making some difficult decisions that parliamentarians will have to carefully scrutinize. Our fiscal situation cannot be allowed to recklessly deteriorate. At the same time, significant and intelligent investments should be made to expand the economy in areas such as productivity, critical infrastructure, education and training, to name a few. That will require some finesse and tough choices.

Against this momentous backdrop, some are defending – of all things – MPs salaries and pensions?

Please, people, give your heads a shake!

Throughout the 1970s, the House of Commons was filled with some of the most exceptional parliamentarians in our history. By the end of that decade, MPs made $26,900, plus a $12,000 tax-free expense account. In today’s dollars, that would be $91,525, excluding tax-free expenses. Of course back in those days platinum pensions didn’t exist, either.

Our family doctor in Vancouver has a gross taxable income of $130,000. According to Canadian Lawyer Magazine, the median income for a lawyer is $76,000, with the highest being $175,000. Senior public servants in Ottawa do make slightly more than MPs; however, their pensions are not nearly as attractive, and they do not have $20,000 tax-free expense accounts. Moreover, they have direct managerial responsibility for billions of dollars and thousands of employees. Unlike MPs, senior public servants are underpaid. They have proven their value and professionalism, time and again. But in the past fifteen or twenty years, have MPs? In the past decade, have they distinguished themselves in a meaningful way?

To gauge how effective our MPs have been look to the “market”.

A Statistics Canada survey published after the 2011 election showed that a shocking 7.5 million people eligible to vote did not do so and more than 28% of them declared that they were not interested in casting ballots. Many felt their vote would not have made a difference in the election results. Why? Canadians have little respect for parliament and even less for the people that comprise it.

Who should own that reality if not parliamentarians?

Do we hold our hold MPs in high esteem? According to a 2009 survey by Angus Reid Strategies, politicians are comparable to car salesmen for people. Almost 30% of respondents in Canada express a high or moderate amount of respect for politicians, and 23 per cent feel the same way about car salesmen. By contrast, they feel a great deal of respect for nurses (96%), farmers (95%), teachers (93%), doctors and scientists (both at 92%), veterinarians (92%) and military officers (90%).

This condition has had a corrosive effect on our institutions. The less respect we have for our elected representatives the harder it will be to attract people of quality to stand for office. The less quality we have, the greater the parochialism and the number of politicians whose overarching interest does not extend beyond their own. When that happens, citizens become more detached and more cynical.

As citizens, we must demand more of ourselves by informing ourselves, by voting, and by engaging. Unless we demand more of ourselves, talented and principled people will have little incentive to enter public life and summon what is great within us. And let there be no doubt: Canada desperately needs the best and the brightest in our national parliament and in the professional public service.

Our politics have changed Canada – and not for the better. Members of Parliament have descended to a troubling – even anesthetizing – level of superficiality. We have really only ourselves to blame for that.

Pierre Elliot Trudeau was right when he wrote “We must concern ourselves with politics, as Pascal said, to mitigate as far as possible the damage done by the madness of our rulers.”

While some may look upon politicians as pygmies, our apathy and disengagement from the political process is making matters worse and causing great harm to our country. That disengagement is a direct consequence of our having set the bar so low on those we send to Ottawa. The predictable result is their debasing conduct.

I have always felt that elected public office is one of the most noble professions there is. It is why I ran last May. Despite the pummeling I took – and perhaps because of it – I believe that more strongly than ever today.

Call me an idealist, but I don’t want people to run for office because they think the salary is good. I want them to run and be parliamentarians because they have a job to do for Canada. Seeking elected office should never be about money; it should be about the magnificent honour of service.

If that’s not why you want to be a Member of Parliament, go find another job.

Original Article
Source: iPolitico 
Author: Daniel Veniez  

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