| After 36 years of Conservative party reign in Alberta, it could be safely argued that the province isn’t Canada’s most lively or dynamic democracy. Do Albertans just like the status quo or is there a serious "democratic deficit" in the province? Public Interest Alberta (PIA), a left-wing lobby group, is hoping to provoke a debate on this question.
In a new discussion paper, the group says it wants to promote "the renewal and revitalization of democracy" in our province. PIA held a conference in May 2006 , hosted by the John Humphrey Centre for Peace and Human Rights, where it asked Albertans how to make the province more democratic. The group created the discussion paper after feedback from the conference.
Bil Moore-Kilgannon, executive director of PIA, says it’s a good time to raise the issue because the Conservatives, Liberals and NDP have all recently brought up the need for democratic reform. "There have been a lot of people talking about the need for some pretty substantial changes to all aspects of our democratic process," he says. "We think it’s really important to have a discussion but also to build a broad-based network throughout the province of people who want to see some pretty comprehensive reform of our democratic system."
Moore-Kilgannon says there’s no shortage of issues that indicate a democratic deficit in Alberta. He points to the low number of days that MLAs actually sit in the legislature and the fact that Alberta doesn’t have all-party committees to review legislation. Instead, only Conservatives sit on standing policy committees. The low participation rate of women in politics and increasingly low voter turnout rates are also worrying signs.
The PIA’s discussion paper makes a number of recommendations on how to improve Alberta’s democracy such as less "restrictive, time consuming and costly" access to information regulations and campaign financing reform. PIA wants to see limits on political contributions, the elimination of contributions from corporations, unions or associations, more open disclosure of donors and limits on election campaign spending.
PIA recommends that provincial political ridings be overhauled to ensure that the population in each riding only varies by 10 per cent. PIA also wants to see fixed election dates and more action to ensure that women and visible minorities enter politics.
A lobbyist registry, more "meaningful" protection of whistle-blowers within government, tougher limits on closure to cut off debate in the legislature and a legislated minimum amount of sitting days for the legislature would also improve democracy, argues the PIA. It says the province should also look at proportional representation.
"The goal is to set the bar very high for the political parties to say yes, if we’re going to reform our democratic deficit we can’t just tinker around the edges. There needs to be substantive political reform so that everyone in Alberta feels that their voice is heard and that their democratic rights are respected," says Moore-Kilgannon.
PIA will be holding eight public forums to discuss democratic reform across the province, including one in Calgary on March 24. For more information go to www.piaalberta.org. |
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