Most Canadians know deep down in their bones that our current system of government is broken and dysfunctional.
The signs are everywhere. Our debt is climbing. We seem incapable of balancing the budget, regardless of which party is in power. Taxes keep going up. And our economy is stagnant.
At the end of the day, if the economy doesn’t work, nothing else will. There will be fewer businesses, fewer jobs and less revenue to pay for programs like health care, pensions and social assistance.
But the surest sign that our system of government isn’t working is the fact that our living standards have noticeably declined over the past two decades. The divide between wealthy and working-class Canadians is growing larger and larger, and the cost of living has been rising while average incomes have withered or remained flat.
Why is that? In a country as rich and technologically advanced as Canada, living standards should be improving, not dropping. Instead, we keep slowly sliding backwards. And the reason why, quite simply, is that Canada has not been well managed.
A well managed company will generate increased sales and profits and a higher return on investment for its shareholders. The same principle holds true for a country. A well managed country will create greater economic growth and higher living standards for its citizens. But that’s not the case with our country — and it hasn’t been for a long time.
It’s easy to pin the blame on politicians, but they’re just as much victims of the system as the average Canadian. It’s not a question, ultimately, of which party is at the helm. It’s the fault of the system itself.
There are many good Members of Parliament in Canada today — decent and well-meaning individuals — but they’re imprisoned in a system that places the needs and interests of their party and their own re-election over the best interests of the nation. Their voices are stifled or drowned out. And if any of them come forward with bold new ideas for improving our country, they’re attacked from a thousand different directions, or they’re met with knee-jerk opposition simply because of their party affiliation rather than the merits of their proposal.
So how do we straighten out this dysfunctional system?
I’ve always believed the best way to do so was through non-partisan, democratically elected Citizen Representatives, who would have a significant say in determining the laws that govern our country.
There would be approximately 100 Citizen Representatives and they could either sit in the House of Commons, alongside the Members of Parliament representing Canada’s various federal parties, or they could sit in the Senate, replacing the current politically appointed Senators who simply rubber stamp legislation.
As a result, the Citizen Representatives would effectively hold the balance of power in Parliament. Freed from any partisan ties or allegiances, Citizen Representatives would vote on all bills and would cast their votes at the same time as the party affiliated members in the House of Commons. A simple majority of votes would be required to pass a bill.
The following eligibility criteria would apply to Citizen Representatives, regardless of whether they sat in the House of Commons or the Senate. They would have to be a minimum of 50 years of age and would need to obtain 300 signatures from fellow citizens endorsing their candidacy. They would appear on the ballot next to the names of the nominated candidates from each of the parties running in a particular riding. As a result, in every federal election Canadian citizens would vote for one of the party candidates as well as for one of the Citizen Representatives standing for election.
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Frank Stronach: We need less politics and more democracy
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Frank Stronach: Whatever happened to balancing the budget?
Ideally, Citizen Representatives would be older Canadian citizens who have enjoyed successful careers, made tangible contributions to society and want to serve our country. In terms of the sort of people who should run as Citizen Representatives, I believe we need to encourage successful businesspeople who have built companies, created jobs and contributed to economic growth — people who would bring some hard-headed economic sense and practical, real-world experience to Ottawa. After having served one full term, the Citizen Representatives would then return to private life.
The fact is, we need to break the stranglehold that parties and party discipline have on the way we are governed. The addition of Citizen Representatives would create a much more effective system of government, one that contains built-in checks and balances on the power of the governing party.
Most important of all, Citizen Representatives would be much more inclined to place the country’s economic welfare ahead of purely partisan concerns. They would make our country more democratic, more accountable, and more responsive to the economic needs of Canadians.
Democracy is messy and complicated. But that doesn’t mean that we can’t make it better yet. Citizen Representatives would be a simple and effective way of revitalizing and strengthening our democratic system.
National Post
fstronachpost@gmail.com
Frank Stronach is the founder of Magna International Inc., one of Canada’s largest global companies, and an inductee in the Automotive Hall of Fame.