Government’s lack of commitment to democratic reform is disappointing
Last week in the House of Assembly was very disappointing to say the least as we saw government’s resolution for the establishment of an all-party committee on democratic reform left on the order paper without required debate and without the ability to be acted upon anytime soon.
Democratic reform, of course, was a promise made to the people of N.L. by the Ball Liberals in the 2015 provincial general election.
This promise was later assigned to minister Andrew Parsons to fulfill as is indicated in his ministerial mandate letter which states:
“As Government House Leader, I expect you to lead in the House of Assembly by bringing a resolution to the House of Assembly to establish an All Party Committee on Democratic Reform.”
In a recent media interview, Parsons suggested that the reason why this resolution wasn’t passed in the House of Assembly prior to closing was, basically, the opposition’s fault for bringing forth an amendment to have the committee report to the House of Assembly versus directly to the government.
First of all, the opposition was correct in bringing forth this amendment as democratic reform is an issue that impacts all parties and all members of the House of Assembly and any recommendations should be brought to the House of Assembly for debate and approval.
As far as this amendment preventing passage in the House of Assembly goes, that is absolutely ludicrous. This session of the House of Assembly commenced on March 13 so there was plenty of time to have brought this resolution forward.
Government didn’t have to wait until the last minute.
Even with the “convenient timing” of this resolution, the House of Assembly could have stayed open late to engage in required debate and passage of the motion.
Unfortunately, that never happened and, as a result, this resolution will remain on the order paper until the House of Assembly re-opens in November.
That will bring us to one year before the next election.
Of course, the fall session of the House of Assembly is only short; then we are into Christmas break. This will be followed by budget preparation time, the spring budget session of the House and of course then straight into election mode. Bottom line is that no meaningful reform is going to happen during this administration’s current mandate which equals another broken campaign promise.
This is extremely unfortunate, as we continue to operate with a democratic deficit in our province. We need significant campaign financing reforms that will eliminate or at least significantly limit the amount of money which can be donated by big business and unions. We need to significantly reduce the amount of money which can be spent by a party and/or candidate in a general election, byelection or leadership race. We need to tighten up the rules and timeframes on campaign donation reporting. We need to review things such as conflict of interest rules, the utilization of all-party legislative committees, recall legislation, e-petitions, evoting, and additional measures to increase public participation in the democratic process.
Deciding on who should represent the people’s interest in the House of Assembly should be about the credentials, the experience and the ideas of the candidate, not about who has the most election signs, the most radio and/or television ads and the glossiest brochures. The democratic process should not begin and end at the ballot box; it should provide legitimate opportunities for the people’s voice to be heard throughout the mandate of any government. It should provide appropriate mechanisms to hold elected members accountable for their actions and their promises.
True democratic reform should not be about what is most convenient for political parties (particularly those in power), it should be about what works best for the people.
I call upon our premier to live up to this campaign promise and get democratic reform back on the rails. The people deserve better and it is up to him to show leadership on this very important matter.