Canadians need a Day of Deliberation

Democracy cannot be left to politicians alone, declares Thomas Axworthy

mazingly, Jack Layton and

the NDP are beating the election tom-toms in Ottawa so we may have to trudge to the polls in January snow drifts.

Layton’s threat to vote nonconfidence in the government unless it adopts the NDP orthodoxy in medicare delivery is another sign of the Parliament Hill disease — otherwise intelligent men and women seem to park their common sense at the door once they enter the House of Commons.

Justice John Gomery has just delivered his first report on the sponsorship scandal; he plans a second in February on how to prevent future abuses. Prime Minister Paul Martin has promised an election upon receipt of this second report. So we will have an election soon — either in January when the weather will surely depress voter turnout, or in the spring, when Canadians have had the chance to digest both reports.

Layton should think again.

But, whether in January or April 2006, Canadians will soon be exercising their franchise, so we should be reflecting on the health of our democracy. The vital signs are not good. The sponsorship scandal shows there were rogues in the Quebec Liberal party happy to abuse the public trust. The accountability system in the public service is in complete shambles.

Voter turnout has fallen from 75 per cent in 1984 to 60.9 per cent in 2004, with the prospect of a January 2006 election accelerating that decline even further. The only recent democratic advance has been Jean Chrétien’s 2003 reform of the Election Expenses Act, which restricted

Athe amount of money corporations and unions could give to parties. While taking his share of responsibility for the sponsorship mess, it should not be forgotten that it was Chrétien, over the objection of his own party president, who reduced the power of money in our politics. What can be done to improve Canadian democracy?

Gomery’s next report will have a raft of suggestions on improving public management, but many ideas are already on the table, such as making deputy ministers formally accountable for the administration of their departments. This would have stopped Chuck Guité before he got going. A Parliamentary Budget Office and increased resources for parliamentary committees will enhance Parliament’s ability to hold the executive to account.

Offices like the Privacy Commissioner must be strengthened. Parties should create independent policy think tanks based on the European model and reform membership practices. More immediately, before the next election, we need the CBC to fulfil its mandate and open its airwaves to extended public discussion. Presently, we have only one overhyped leaders’ debate.

Instead, every party should be asked to submit two issues it would like to debate on air. Each Sunday prior to the election, the parties should designate a spokesperson to debate defence, development, unity, productivity, social justice, etc. These themed policy debates should then culminate in a formal leaders’ debate. Beyond the parties debating on air ( voters will also be able to measure the depth of each party’s bench strength, not just the leader), the CBC and other media outlets should organize new forms of public consultation, such as bringing together citizen panels on the same themes the parties are deliberating. The results of these citizen panels could be released in a major Day of Deliberation, an idea championed by Professor Bruce Ackerman of Yale University. Ackerman has promoted his idea as a concept to assist referendum voting on constitutional change, but there is no reason why it could not be adopted for a normal election campaign. With a focused Day of Deliberation, thousands of Canadians will participate directly and around the water coolers and coffee breaks the next day, thousands more will be discussing the issues that affect them most. Democracy is too important to be left only to the parties. The way to reform our democracy is to start by citizens deliberating on it. Thomas S. Axworthy is chairman of the Centre for the Study of Democracy, Queen’s University, Kingston.