MLA report: voter turnout
June 5, 2009 by Norm Macdonald
Filed under BC democracy, BC government, Freedom, Local news
Norm Macdonald MLA, Columbia River – Revelstoke
The recent election left me feeling both encouraged and dismayed. While I was naturally thankful for all the support I received from voters in Columbia River – Revelstoke, I was very concerned by the low voter turnout both here and across British Columbia.
I can’t help feeling that the lack of voter interest is in some way a failure on my part. At the very least, I am part of a group, politicians of all political stripes, that has failed to communicate with voters and engage them in the democratic process.
For me, the empowering part of the election was the large group of volunteers who worked so hard to re-elect me. Similar to last election, my campaign was run on a very tight budget. My campaign was successful because of people who gave of their time and skills, and I was pleased that those people felt passionate enough to get involved.
But that level of engagement was not apparent in the wider public; a symptom of just how uninspiring the democratic process has become. Last month’s provincial election managed to draw only half of those who were eligible to vote.
As we commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre where many lives were lost fighting for democratic freedom, many British Columbians chose not to exercise their democratic rights.
Elections BC did everything they could to make voting easy, including five full days of voting over the course of a week. Voting takes only slightly longer than getting money from the instant teller machine.
Politicians have failed the electorate, whether it be through resorting simply to sound-bites and political spin when discussing important issues, or by turning to name-calling and partisanship rather than working towards real solutions.
But voters must also take responsibility for the state of our democratic process. If you stay home on election day, you accept the system as it is. Those that are in power are quite content with an electorate that is disengaged.
I am committed to doing what I can to ensure that voters in this area are engaged in issues of importance to our communities, but to be successful I need your help. If there is a provincial issue you care about, you need to get in touch.
Ultimately, strengthening our democratic institutions is up to you.
Contact:
Phone: 1-866-870-4188
Email: norm.macdonald.mla@leg.bc.ca
Mail: Box 2052, Golden, BC V0A 1H0
Website: www.NormMacdonald.ca
Norm, thank you so much for opening up this important subject. I guess it is hard for you to see the forest when you are in it, so let me tell you why I do not vote.
Firstly, why would I vote? Does it somehow make a difference to what government does?
I think not.
How can government say that a house of parliament represents the electorate when only half the people vote (of those eligible), and only half of those will be represented by the elected candidate, and only half of the house will be represented by candidates of the winning party? A little quick arithmetic tells me that 50% x 50% x 50% = 12.5 % — in other words, a vote in the house represents approximately a tenth of the population. The other 90% or so are unrepresented.
Never mind the fact that, most of the time, it is government insiders not MLAs who develop and put forward legislation. Most of the time the legislature is simply rubberstamping someone else’s scheme.
Never mind the fact that we the people are not masters of government and government our collective tool. Instead, the direction of government is largely set by the agendas of outside private (usually commercial) interests that have a vested interest in influencing the outcomes of the legislature. They are a major influence on the development of proposals that are put before the legislature.
North American governments everywhere are moving ever closer to the European Parliament model where the Council of Europe and related insiders set the agenda and parliamentary members are merely rubber stamps who are not allowed to consider legislation and consult constituents.
Even if my vote were among the ten percent that are actually represented in the legislature, I would not give my power to any MLA who did not read everything that she voted on from cover to cover and understood it all.
I would not give my power to any MLA that would not take a stand against the very abusive practice of piggybacking unwanted acts on highly supported ones.
I would not give my power to any MLA that would not insist on having enough time to properly read, research and consider proposed legislation, as well as to consult widely among constituents about it.
I would not give my power to any MLA that was a member of a political party, because democracy is not real democracy unless there is a facility for consensus building and consensus decision making. Political parties, by definition, encourage a oppositional black-and-white scheme of things, party against party, the opposite of consensus.
So, does voting make a difference? I think not — at least not a difference in the people’s favor, though it certainly helps those who are trying to spread the plague of democracy everywhere. And you wonder why China got so heavy-handed over Tianamen … I think they did the right thing, as difficult as that decision may have been.
Does not voting make a difference? I think so, because it sends a message to people like yourself that the people are not getting their way, that they do not trust the government, that government is no longer under their control (as though it ever were).
More than anything else, I will not give my power to any representative unless I am completely certain that they will represent my interests fully and faithfully — not only that they want to do that, but that they are actually in a position to make it happen in fact. And of course today’s MLAs are not in that position.
I also do not vote to emphasize that I consider ‘democracy’ (as now practiced) an instrument of evil that is preventing the realization of peace and prosperity on earth. It gives the illusion of power to the people, while actually castrating them of all power and handing it over to those who invisibly pull the puppet government’s strings (all democracies are puppet governments).
Democracies are not accountable because it is not obvious how they are run and who is ultimately and actually in control (it is certainly not the voters). Because they are not accountable they can get away with almost anything.
Give me a good, caring dictator like Castro. Cuba is one of the most civilized societies we have, but it has been cut off because it does not cave in to the global elite behind the democracies of the world.
Give me a one-party system like the Chinese Communist Party. The people say that the party has too much power, but at least it is obvious where the power lies. They do not play the democracy lie, pretending that it’s actually the people in charge when it is not so. They do not waste their time on such games.
I would sooner live in China or Cuba where the real power is visible and the rules are clear. It is hard to live in a society like ours where everyone pretends things are one way but in fact it is quite the opposite. We live in so much illusion, so much disinformation and propaganda, so many lies, so much spin and distortion of what’s real, so little common sense and so little ability to distinguish reality from fiction.
That is why I do not, and will not, vote. You cannot make a pile of manure into a rose, no matter how hard you try. I see the pile — it grows higher and deeper every day — and it does not look or smell like a rose to me, lol.
Maybe I am not the only one who thinks ‘democracy’ does not smell like a rose.
Let me tell you one last reason why a won’t vote. I tried for about 3 years to contact my MLA (Corky Evans) and could never get past his staff in either Nelson or Victoria. They completely ignored me, despite it being an important issue that I have now taken to the media. Why would I vote for someone who represented me like that? Are MLA staff accountable enough, or are they acting as political gatekeepers without the MLA’s knowledge?
Mi Kai Lee, i applaud you for standing so firmly on your principles. The faults you find with our present system of government are very true and real. This is a discussion that deserves to be on everyone’s table. The question has to be, though, how can we fix it? We all know what kind of government we would like to enjoy. How do we get from bad to good government? I think this is where we get bogged down. There don’t seem to be any answers to this most important of dilemmas. How can we get from badmouthing the situation we see to really entering into dialogue that will find some solutions? I would love to be part of a group of really sincere citizens who would put aside their personal agendas for a while and really search for answers. It is said that there are no unanswerable questions, only that some answers are harder to find than others. I don’t think anything will change until average, grass-roots folks like you and I are willing to dig very deeply into our own selves and the fabric of our present society to find the solutions we seek. Is anyone out there daring enough?
Dear Lynn, The path to good government is the same as the path to a better society, to a peaceful world of plenty for everyone. A government of and by the people can never be better than the people themselves are prepared to be.
To have good government we need a revolution in our way of thinking. It starts with each of us individually, not with pointing the finger elsewhere.
First, as a society, we need to relearn independent thinking and self-sufficiency. Everyone knows that government has become too big and self-serving and that big government is socially and economically dysfunctional. We need to wean ourselves from the tits of super nanny and make our own way.
Our government should only do those things that we cannot do for ourselves, as individuals, and as communities. As communities, we should provide our own schools and hospitals and local services of all sorts. We do not need big government for that. We need to take back all those things that have been stolen from us — and do them for and by ourselves.
Before we can even begin to look at how to have better government — true democracy — we have to take back our power and put government in its right place, doing only those things that we cannot do individually and as communities.
This is probably not what people want to hear, but it is what is realistically needed to set things right.
We need to kick the dependency habit and eliminate our addiction to handouts. There will soon be little choice, otherwise we face the prospect, already imminent, of living in a state of world-government fascism, tyranny and slavery.
Before we can even start to take back our community agencies, like hospitals and schools and social services, we need to become able to do these things for ourselves. This starts with fostering a mindset of taking direct personal responsibility for many things.
Most importantly, we need to develop a spirit of togetherness and consensus-building and mutual assistance, so we can work together to achieve our self-sufficiency both as individuals and as communities.
The time is rapidly approaching when we may all be thrown into self-sufficiency anyway, whether we think we are ready or not, because there is huge financial/economic change coming down the pipe and government is no longer going to be everyone’s nanny. The milk is about to dry up and we will be on our own. So we should get used to the idea of looking after ourselves, and taking care of our friends and neighbors in mutual support, as it was in days gone by.
To build a better form of government, we need to learn how to build consensus and how to make decisions by consensus, not by majority rule. But we need to make this happen in our own families and relationships and communites before it can be applied on a larger scale. In essence, we need to learn how to live co-operatively, how to do things in groups, not as isolated individuals each in our own little box.
We also need to learn to restrain ourselves and not do things just because we are able to do them. In a decent society, some things should just not be done because they are not in the best interests of society and the planet. We need to learn how to control greed and ambition, as well as our fears and insecurities.
We have been programmed to operate separately, in isolation, without considering the impact on others, and somehow we have to unlearn all that and re-program ourselves to interact communally and not just transactionally. We need to always be working for the whole community at the same time we are working for ourselves.
I’m sorry if this sounds like a sermon, but this society has gotten way off track in its values (or lack of them) and we need to get back to the basics of real caring and sharing community.
True community is the foundation of real democracy. We have bad government because we have a bad society. And so the task at hand is for every single one of us to take direct personal responsibility for fixing society, beginning with ourselves. We need to start living our highest potential and encouraging it in everyone around us. Then maybe we can think about how to have good government — if it is still a problem.
We need to abandon the mainstream corporate media, because it is destroying society faster than anything else.
We need to abandon the idea that everything has a price, that everything can be bought and sold. Everyone should have enough food, a piece of land to live and grow things on, enough free time to engage in deep relationships, to build good family and friendships and community.
We need to end the slavery of corporate employment and go back to self-employment, family businesses, partnerships, small collectives, local co-operatives.
We need to get back to the land, to grow our own food — and we need to share the land so everyone can do that.
We need to take back the schools and use them for real learning, to help people achieve their highest potential in life, not to dumb them down and hold them back and embed nasty social habits in their psyches.
We need to raise our own children, and as communities to support that. We need to end the age segregation of day-jail schooling and integrate young people of all ages into all aspects of life.
We need to end bullying in all its forms and make space for the natural freedom of everyone. We can only have freedom to the degree that we claim it and protect it.
We need to eliminate all forms of pollution so we can think straight and reduce our dependency on medical technology.
That is just a beginning. As I said at the top, we need nothing less than a very deep social revolution to cleanse the heart and soul of today’s civilization.
Maybe then we can have good government.
A great message, Mi Kai Lee, you hold a worthy vision for all of us. I agree that these are ideals for the perfect or nearly perfect society and I am sure that most or all of us would aspire to live in this kind of a world.
The only thing that prevents us from living this way is, as you say, we ourselves. However, most of the world is not ready to make the sacrifices necessary to see the dream become a reality. I was reading just today that 70 per cent of the world’s population neither recognizes nor cares about the environment, which is only a part of the whole picture, so how can they even begin to consider making the sacrifices necessary to make this a better world?
So once again, I wonder how the 30 per cent of the poplulation who do think our present world-view is terribly wonky and see a need for change, can actually begin to effect that radical shift in time to avoid catastrophe. Because the shift we are speaking about must be radical and it must be huge.
When I look around me in my own small community, I do see some change happening here and there. Small steps to be sure, but somewhat encouraging. I feel that here in rural BC, we have somewhat of an advantage over big-city fast- paced living.
However, a major paradigm change is spiritual rather than anything else. As you said, we must become the change we seek. If we as individuals do not summon the desire and the courage to radically change our own selves, our personal relationships, our business practises and our attitudes toward the world we live in and its inhabitants, how can we stand in judgement of those who do not share our views? And if we sit back and do nothing or even do the very minimum, we haven’t a hope.
Lynn, Someone has to go first. Don’t worry about the other 6 billion people, and don’t wait for them. Do it by yourself and for yourself. If you make your little part of the world better, everyone in your life will be touched by that.
My suggestions above are not only for better government, but the answer to capitalism raping the planet – they are the same problem. So maybe we don’t need to worry about those 70% who you say don’t even recognize “the environment”. If everyone were fulfilling their highest potential, or even part of it, we would not be killing the earth anyway. It is capitalism and our addiction to it that are doing that.