Letter to the Editor
By Paul Sonsteby Strathmore, AB
Dear Strathmore,
So, this is what passes for democracy these days, huh?
As I’m writing this, we’re two weeks shy of a federal election, a snap election that many Canadians didn’t want or need, called to grab a majority government in an attempt that looks likely to fail no matter who wins. A month later we face a municipal election which will see a change to a council that has appeared toxic, petty, and vindictive, plagued by infighting.
We are still in an unprecedented global pandemic. That really should be everyone’s first concern. No matter where you fall politically, the past eighteen months have been difficult, more so because the pandemic and all its associated fallout (masks, vaccinations, whether you can see your grandma at Christmas) have sadly turned into a political football. Football, of course, is full contact and can lead to head injuries.
2021 has drawn disgusting behaviour from people across the globe and has made me question whether we Canadians, Albertans, and Strathmorites actually deserve our democracy, whether we’re grown up enough to handle it. Political leaders are being shouted at profanely, gestured at obscenely, and pummeled with debris dangerously. Screaming, waving, throwing. That’s what monkeys do.
Yesterday I was approached by a man who is running for a party other than the Conservatives in our riding of Bow River. He was walking about the Sobey’s parking lot, talking to people about his platform, his party’s platform and actively listening and asking questions. I enjoyed the human connection and we had a good chat. No idea if I’ll vote for him. But he was also suffering verbal abuse from other patrons. Others who said they supported him refused to acknowledge it in something as bold as a lawn sign for fear of what their neighbours would do.
Not say, mind. Do. Physical repercussions.
I don’t yet know who I’m voting for. I like to examine the platforms, judge how they affect me, my family, my community and my nation, then choose that person who locally and nationally best suits my opinions. That’s how a democracy is supposed to work. Sadly, there are people in this nation who treat political parties like sports teams, backing them no matter how they behave and whatever they produce. That’s silly and is not supposed to be how democracy works.
O’Toole’s Conservatives are not Harper’s nor Macdonald’s. Justin Trudeau’s Liberals are not his father’s or Mackenzie King’s. Sing’s NDP is not Layton’s nor is it Tommy Douglas’s. It’s silly to think so, but it’s sillier still to not want to know so, or to think you can vote for or against one of these leaders: you can’t. This isn’t the U.S. If you live in Bow River you can only vote for or against Mr. Martin Shields, and if he retains his seat then he represents you in Parliament, whether you agree with him or not. If his party gets the most seats, his leader becomes prime minister, failing that, Leader of the Official Opposition and so on.
Far too many Canadians don’t appear to know this. Far too many Canadians appear to get their “news” and information from suspect social media “sources” that have algorithms designed to create clickbait, no matter if they mislead, misinform, and inflame. Then some of these misled, misinformed and inflamed Canadians form whacky opinions about media or the economy or the pandemic or western alienation or taxes or equalization or climate change or history or race. Then some of thoseCanadians throw rocks at politicians. That’s not how democracy works.
On Jan. 6 this year, wild-eyed ruffians stormed the US Capitol Building of the Presidential Constitutional Republic to our south. They plundered and they trashed. That’s not how democracy works. Throwing rocks here? That’s not how our Constitutional Monarchy works. Some Canadians don’t know these are different systems of government, or don’t want to know.
My wife and I try to pay attention. We try to “consume” different types of media from different sources, not just those that suit what we think (or want to think). We don’t always vote the same in every election and we don’t always vote the same as each other. That’s how a democracy works. We try to be informed and we try to choose as best we can. We try not to vote against anyone out of anger. That’s silly. Because I’m in education and she’s in health care—both provincial jurisdictions—we find voting provincially usually very easy, but we still like to get informed before we mark that ballot. We are not always the same as last time or as each other. That’s how a democracy works.
I love municipal politics because there aren’t political parties. Hypothetically, they listen to their constituents and vote their consciences. But if you’ve paid as close attention as we have to this session, you’ll know we have an obvious divide, a faction of usually four against a faction of usually three. And if one of the three would suggest planting a flower one of the four would vote it down on precedence. This is juvenile. These seven can’t be trusted to agree on ordering lunch, much less how to weather the worst pandemic in a century. That’s not how democracy works. That’s how it falters under the weight of ego.
We are allowed to disagree. In a democracy that is encouraged. No politician is perfect, and no party can be ideal. But too many are concerned with acquiring and keeping power and then attacking their perceived or created foes. That’s wrong. But they should never feel physically at risk. No challengers to the incumbent should feel threatened canvassing in a riding, even if that incumbent is comfortable (or entitled or apathetic). Democracy works when it is challenged and exercised.
Being a politician is hard at any level. You must be thick-skinned. People will sometimes say things about you rather than your policies, which they really shouldn’t. I’m guilty. More than once, I’ve called this town council immature. Not great but I couldn’t help it.
They get paid. They choose public office. They sometimes spend as much time criticizing their peers as actually governing. They need to suck it up and deal with the fact that taking a public job means receiving public criticism. If they don’t like it, there will be someone waiting to take their vacated seats, because that’s how democracy works.
Violence is not democracy. Threats are not democracy. They are vile, petty, and bestial. Storming democratic institutions dressed like a barbarian, throwing rocks at people whose policies you disagree with, or discussing attacks on any of the above is despicable, not democratic.
We are a better nation and town than this. Get informed and make a choice. If you can’t handle that responsibility, there’s a spot in the zoo for you with the other monkeys.
Paul Sonsteby
Strathmore, AB