Demarchy

MITCHEL RAPHAEL, Maclean’s

So today Speaker Scheer ruled that phone calls that have flooded Montreal Grit Irwin Cotler’s riding were not a breach of his parliamentary privilege and did not impede his work as an MP.

Good.

Honestly, this shtick has gone far enough. Cotler has a right to be angry about these calls. He, however, should stop wasting the House’s time with this.

While the opposition has latched onto this as another way to go after the government, it’s simply distracting. Much like non-binding motions condemning the government or rather meaningless proclamation that the government is in “contempt of parliament,” this is a typical issue that has more to do with partisan sniping than with the work of parliament.

Yes, the Conservatives were wrong to send these robocalls. They shouldn’t do it. That being said, it is far outside of the purview of the speaker to do anything about it. Even if he could (which he can’t) the speaker would only be able to deliver a lightly-worded slap on the wrist that would carry absolutely no real penalty or enforcement.

It’s ironic that the opposition should complain about Harper invoking closure, when they waste time in the House endlessly promulgating the horrors of the Tory’s permanent campaign.

But the solution to fighting Conservative negative campaigning isn’t to complain about it. It isn’t to join with them in the mud.

No, the solution is to actually get to work. These sideshows are irrelevant, distracting and are counter-productive to augmenting the level of dialog and cooperation on the hill.

One party cannot engage in cynical Realpolitik if the other parties are operating on a professional, hard-working level. It is the Liberal and New Democrat engagement in this Tory hyper-partisanship that allows it to continue. When this becomes tit-for-tat, it prolongs the game. Merely defining yourself as the antithesis to the Conservatives - as Jean Chretien recently did in a befuddled fundraising letter - accepts the Conservative/Opposition competition. By defining yourself as an actual party with actual solutions, you can come out as the professional, adult party.

So when you start fear-mongering about the Harper Government trying to kill gay marriage, abortion rights or prisoners, you do nothing for democracy. You do all sorts of good for the Conservatives, however.

And can you blame the Tories? They are, currently, the only ones proposing solutions in the House of Commons. It makes sense for them, on one hand, to push an fiscally-focused agenda with a touch of law-and-order, while at the same time poking the opposition parties with its other hand.

Don’t agree with their policies? Good. But the solution isn’t to scream incoherently about fascism and dictatorship, it’s to propose a better solution. It’s to engage people, not complain to them. 

So Cotler is mad about illegitimate phone calls in his riding - he should draft a private members bill more strictly defining what is okay for parties to do in-between elections. There: solution.

The House of Commons is not a house of politics. Politics gets you there, keeps you there, and surrounds your work there. However, sitting in the lower chamber is supposed to indicate a commitment to working to improve Canada - not your party’s standing.

So knock it off and get to work.