Real accountability? Politicians from Trudeau to Trump are all alike

THERE’S BEEN PLENTY OF ink comparing Justin Trudeau to Donald Trump, the contrasts typically not favouring the U.S. president.

Much of the fawning over our prime minister is a matter of style – there hasn’t been much of substance to go. Critiques of Trump go to both style and substance, there being little of either.

Moreover, both leaders are contrasted against their predecessors, where Trudeau is seen to outshine Stephen Harper while Trump’s image takes a beating by comparison to Barack Obama.

All the rhetoric aside, however, there is little to separate any of these men when it comes to substantive improvements to good governance.

Here, Trudeau talked a good game about moving away from Harper’s secretive, petty approach, but did nothing but promise openness and transparency – just as Harper did. In the U.S., the warmongering, civil-liberties-abusing Obama – only in America deemed some kind of socialist – gave way to a president intent on draining the swap, by which he meant stocking it with his own creatures.

In each case, the amount of real accountability to the public – the ostensible bosses of all the politicians and bureaucrats – amounted to pretty much zero. But Trudeau says the right things and looks the part, where Trump is just the opposite.

No matter the approach, the political goings-on make it clear what happens when there are not enough checks on power. Not surprisingly, there are no calls for greater accountability and new rules to prevent abuse, rather we have politicians denying any wrongdoing and attempting to take issues behind closed doors ... or label them fake news.

Partisans turn a blind eye to all of the negatives, whether that’s in support of a particular party or a pet project. The rest of us look on apathetically, often resigned to the fact graft and corruption abound. A few note that incompetence is commonplace, from municipal bureaucracies through to the boardrooms of multinationals.

The only way that’s going to change is through the political will to push for true accountability. The politicians won’t do it, however, unless we force them to: they’re happy with a self-serving system that allows unfettered access to the cookie jar for themselves and their financial backers.

That’s certainly clear in Trump’s pledges to cut red tape, for instance, which appears to be code for letting friends and family take advantage of having the Donald in the White House.

“Just this week we learned a small tech startup with money and family ties to Trump son-in-law/adviser Jared Kushner, attended a White House ‘summit’ that Jared organized, alongside titans, such as Microsoft. It was their ‘major breakthrough,’” writes columnist Rick Salutin in The Star, noting Trump is far less subtle in this and everything he does.

“That’s the real nature of collusion in Trumpworld. They’d never forego business opportunities just because they’re in public office. It’s behaviour most Americans would both get and deplore.”

Trump is blatant in his disregard for accountability, but, quite simply, politicians have no interest in tightening up the rules to eliminate self-interest as a motivation for decision making among elected officials and bureaucrats. They’ll talk a good game, especially in opposition, but really want to keep their options open – they won’t even entertain rules to keep politicians from lying, on the hustings or otherwise.

Politicians write the rules for themselves. They prefer no rules but, failing that, they draft vague rules with no enforcement. If there must be enforcement, then there are no penalties for breaking the rules.

Just look at Harper’s much vaunted Accountability Act for a measure that falls into the realm of smokescreen. Having broken their promise to enact more than four dozen new accountability measures, the Conservatives introduced legislation to plug 30 of some 100 loopholes in current rules for open and accountable government. Of those 30, only 15 have been enacted, leaving the door wide open for business as usual.

Trudeau promised to do business differently – we heard the same from Harper a decade earlier – then set about reversing course, most notably with electoral reform.

We’ve become used to politicians saying one thing while on the campaign trail, and then doing just the opposite or nothing at all when they’re elected. That practice will continue as long as we allow it, as long as there are no penalties for lying.

For example, while politicians have passed laws making it illegal for corporations to bait consumers with false advertisements, it is still legal for politicians and public servants to lie to citizens. As long as lying remains legal, politicians will continue to conduct bait-and-switch election campaigns in which they bait voters with promises and then switch directions once they have won power, and politicians and public servants will continue to lie to cover-up wrongdoing or to mislead Canadians.

The first step in the cure is an honesty-in-politics law, as watchdog organizations have argued for years.

A simple step, but it seems like a pipedream. Getting politicians to do things for Canadian citizens – as opposed to their friends and donors – appears impossible. Getting them to behave honestly and ethically is just beyond the pale.

The key is to generate enough public outrage, and then to funnel that into action. Politicians, being out for number-one, want to be re-elected. To that end, they’re willing to listen to the public only if that

“Civil war in Venezuela is not yet a reality, but there is ample dry tinder lying around just waiting for a match.” Gwynne Dyer | 6

means votes. Phone calls and letters can help sway politicians to do the right thing – that you and I think they should be doing that by default is another story.

Politicians want to stay in office – if enough people speak, they’ll listen. If enough people phone and write their elected officials, maybe, just maybe, we’ll see some changes.

Forcing politicians and bureaucrats to stop lying and serving themselves – no more lobbying, gifts, false promises and host of other unethical behaviour that is commonplace today – will help put us on the road to real accountability.

Politicians, bureaucrats and corporate officials have to be held in check to prevent their greed, malfeasance and incompetence from diminishing our lives and our wallets.

Don’t hold your breath, however, whether you’re waiting for Trudeau, Trump or whoever comes next.