FFWD Weekly
Copyright © 1997. All Rights Reserved.
Buzz speaks out
Suing politicians might be fun, but it's just wrong
By Hamish MacAulayDear Mr. Stephen Harper, President, National Citizens' Coalition:
You and I have fought on the same side in some of the largest political battles this country has ever seen, but I am not writing to praise you. It is high time someone knocked some sense into you and explained how giving voters the right to sue politicians for not fulfilling their election promises is a dumb idea. Frankly, it scares me that you don't understand how wrong putting the democratic process in the hands of our fine, distinguished and unaccountable judiciary is. After all, even guys who have spent the last 20 years on the back 40 know that far too much of this country's business already takes place in the courtroom.
You, on the other hand, know I don't trust politicians any further than I can throw them. And ever since I hurt my back pulling the drive on the thresher, Pam Barrett is the only politician I can lift, let alone throw. I know too well who politicians are and what they represent to ever believe them. However, trust or no trust, Canadians need the best politicians we can find to run this country. I ask you, what kind of capable person would run for election if every voter with an axe to grind can sue them? We'll just end up with more and more of the toadying, bathtub-water-drinking sops that seem to pop up in politics faster than Russian thistle in a pasture.
Taking politicians to court isn't going to help anyone or anything except lawyers' bank accounts. And the good Lord knows what a financial skid that profession has been on lately.
Elections are the only thing that can make politicians accountable. Four years isn't all that long to wait for a little payback. We both know that all sorts of other ideas have been tried to make politicians more accountable. Our brothers to the South brought in laws for recalling politicians years ago and I know you would love to let Canadian voters recall politicians as well. Unfortunately, you have yet to answer the question from my last letter, is California any more democratic or better governed because its politicians can be recalled?
Recall laws don't work, but I can live with them. I can't, however, abide allowing people to sue politicians for the decisions they make. I would just love to see nurses, doctors and patients lined up to sue your beloved Ralph Klein for cutting health care funding. As strange as it sounds, making politicians strictly liable for what they say and do is a Pandora's box that would bring our governments and court systems to a halt.
Despising and distrusting politicians is the key stone to our political system. Just because a voter might be dumb enough to actually believe a politician doesn't mean they should have the right to sue. As much as you hate him, Pierre Trudeau was right - Canadian voters are not so gullible that they would believe everything a politician promises on the campaign trail.
In case you hadn't noticed, Canada is a representative democracy where politicians are responsible to the voters as a whole. If more than 60 per cent of them don't like you, they will get rid of you. If anyone can sue a politician for failing to live up to their word, politicians would be responsible to every individual Canadian. Sorry Stephen, but I'd rather deal with the governments all Canadians vote for than the governments Canadians with good lawyers can litigate for.
See you in court,
Stanley "Buzz" Angus
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