A week or so ago, there was a bit of a kerfuffle (what a
lovely word) around the Canadian Parliament when a handful of Conservative MPs
started to complain that they were not being allowed to speak; that the Prime
Minister's office was restricting who could talk about what in the House of
Commons. Initially my curiosity was aroused. Perhaps things were about to get
interesting if members of the ruling party were expressing outrage about them
not being allowed to their job. It is well known that the Prime Minister is a
bit of a control freak and that all MPs are expected to stay on message all of
the time. In my overly optimistic naiveté I thought, just for a brief moment,
that perhaps- just perhaps people were thinking for themselves. My interest was
quickly dashed when it became apparent that the parliamentarians were upset
that they were not being allowed to raise the abortion issue (the fact there
are still people who do not believe it is a woman's right to make that decision
is another story in itself). Not surprisingly, the story seems to have disappeared
into some dark crevasse of the medias' consciousness. Still it was a reminder
of the fact that those MPs who are elected to sit but who for some reason do
not attract the attention of the leader, are destined to be plodding back
benchers for much of their lives. To call them puppets may be unfair but they
seldom demonstrate any independent thought.
A week later Ralph Klein's
death was announced. Klein was the Premier of Alberta for about 14
years. I never liked him. I didn't know him of course but he always seemed to
play the part of a small town hick. I expect more from politicians on the
national stage. Part of my response to him may have been that he, in terms of
statesmanship and presence, compared rather poorly to a previous premier, Peter
Lougheed. Last night I listened to some of the things that were said about Klein
at his memorial service. He was a small town politician (in spite of the fact
that he had been mayor of Calgary); he liked people and they liked him. I
suspect he was far more comfortable hanging out in a bar with some ordinary
people than being a politically correct politician. He sometimes said things
that were at best rude, insulting or outrageous. But he was true to himself and
to the people that elected him. I think his politics were wrong, but I have to
respect a person who says what he means and who does not lie to those around
him.
We, in Canada, have had other similar politicians. In fact
Canada is blessed with a long list of politicians (including perhaps the current mayor of Toronto) who have been opinionated
and determined to be who and what they were. We have had leaders who may have been alcoholics, others who were
poor fathers and even worse husbands, while others probably committed illegal
acts while in office but they had opinions and they had a vision of how the
world should work. I don't have to agree
with them and I certainly would not have supported some of them but at least
they were not puppets. At least one
would know who one was voting for.
Unfortunately the
days of the Ralph Kleins of the world are rapidly passing. What we now see
though the media are orchestrated and all too predictable sound bites. We know
how someone is going to respond to any question by the ideological colours they
wear at election time. Their personalities are shaped by PR gurus and by
professional handlers. It would appear that it has been decided that a real
connection with the people, a personal empowering vision or even a personality
is a dangerous thing. Maybe I would rather vote for a honest scoundrel as
opposed to voting for someone who has allowed themselves to be shaped by
someone else just to be elected.
I would rather have
someone who on occasion acts the part of a clown than someone who is a puppet
and does not know it or does not care.
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