The first night of Chanukah found me at Queen's Park (of all places!) for a celebration hosted by the Liberals (of all parties!) and, notably, by Kathleen Wynne, of whom I am a great fan. That's not a partisan comment...I just find her brilliant and eminently likeable. The party featured, as guests, many members of the Jewish community and so I chatted with old friends and met a few new ones. During the evening, I was not surprised to see my 2011 electoral opponent, Bernie Farber, roaming the room and, as we've often done, we shook hands and had a warm chat. He asked if he could take a selfie of us and post it on Facebook. I readily agreed - and he did.
So, what's your point, Peter? Do you want to write a blog post on the subject of meeting Bernie Farber? No, not today. Today's subject is partisanship and how it is NOT serving us well in government. I was reflecting on an article by Michael den Tandt in the National Post over the last weekend. He was discussing the fact that politics is now pretty much done by polling on peoples' attitudes to issues...not giant issues like national unity or bilingualism or abortion...smaller issues, perhaps like taxation changes or day care. And all parties govern based on the results.
Back to Bernie. He posted our little photo and entitled it "two long time adversaries, two old friends"...succinct, cutesy, true! In turn, I thought about how politically different we are and I wrote this post which many people saw and either "liked" or commented on:
Back to Bernie. He posted our little photo and entitled it "two long time adversaries, two old friends"...succinct, cutesy, true! In turn, I thought about how politically different we are and I wrote this post which many people saw and either "liked" or commented on:
"Many of you would have seen (still can!) the photo of Bernie Farber and I that Bernie posted yesterday. It was taken at a Chanukah party at Queen's Park. He captioned it "two old adversaries - two old friends". Bernie was my Liberal opponent in Thornhill for the 2011 election. The reason we get along today is that we did before and during that contest and it speaks to something that's good to share.
Bernie and I, like many community-minded people, will never see eye-to-eye. But that should not get in the way of mutual respect. If people of good faith could state their views and allow them to stand while "agreeing to disagree", we'd all be much better off and maybe, just maybe, our representatives would, once again, understand that they were sent to do our bidding within the Westminster system which is entirely about give, take, and compromise. I hope and I suspect that the next generation is going to demand this. Happy Chanukah, Bernie...and everyone!"
I didn't spend much time wondering why most people who commented supported my expressed sentiments. As a veteran parliamentarian, I know. And if you think it's not so great in the Ontario Legislature, partisanship in Ottawa is worse...and in the USA (where the President gets voted in directly), there are two chambers, the House of Representatives and the Senate, which are now both solidly Republican while the President is a Democrat - not the British system but it demonstrates how systems are internally flawed. Gridlock between the Legislative and the Executive Branches of government has always been an issue but it is reasonable to now make the statement that there hasn't been any really meaningful across-the-floor discussion nor any truly groundbreaking legislation passed for years.
Bottom line and prime thought: Westminster or the British Parliamentary system is about a government side and an Opposition and, often, other parties or independent legislators as well. The government presents legislation for debate, study, modification, and ultimate adoption. As conceived, the debate and study parts were about improving the legislation so as to broaden its positive effects for all citizens, not just the ones who voted the government of the day into office. It's why bills are read and debated three times before passing into law.
Some will say that my suggestion for increased cooperation, less partisanship, addressing the big picture, and not depending on governance-by-poll is a pollyannish approach. Think what you will. We reap what we sow. But, I honestly feel that we can do better, that our children believe we can, and that when we're out of the picture, they'll pick up the torch and operate with a different prime directive...compromise.
Peter
