| Chapter 16 | Something Personal | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The chapter - Are Federations still needed? - will be controversial in Canada and other countries. Here is the background. I am a landed immigrant and at the time when I first began to formulate the idea of TRUE DEMOCRACY the separatists were the government in Quebec and the fight with Ottawa was in high gear. Naturally I was a detached observer and my first thought was : it is always the same - a bunch of politicians use nationalism to stir up the people, creating herewith the political force to reach their goal. Among other dictators, it was Hitler who mastered this technique. Too bad, there is nothing in a democracy to prevent a country being torn apart. Moreover, besides this show of dysfunctional federalism, one could not fail noticing that the relationship between the Provinces and the Federal Government is rather bumpy too because of constant controversy, mutual political posturing, power play and lack of cooperation. For these reasons I made a little survey. I asked a number of people [strikers on a picket line]: What is your first loyalty ? Is it to Canada or to your province? The unanimous answer was: to Canada. With this answer I believe one may be optimistic about the result if Canadians were asked in a referendum: Do you agree with the amalgamation of the provinces and territories in order to have one united Canada with a central government and decentralized parliament? This would stop separatism because with no provincial political structure or power base separatists wouldn't have the means to build up and conduct their disruptive policies. Of course, the TD e-parliament still will have separatist TD MPs but their ideas will not resonate, i.e. Canada will be a united country for a long time to come. The result of the last referendum in Quebec in which the Quebec electorate was asked whether to have their own French nation or remain a part of Canada, was very close in favor of the Canadian federation. However, in the aftermath something important happened. As soon as Canadians realized that they had almost lost their country there was, according to reports in the media, a wide- spread anguished outcry of many people - We want a voice , we want to be heard - At that time I didn't yet have the answer to the problem - how to give the individual citizen in a mass population a voice without interrupting the normal function of a parliament and government. Therefore this little byplay after the referendum was very encouraging as it showed that there is an undercurrent in the electorate receptive to any idea which will give them this voice. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Critics will make the accusation that the TRUE DEMOCRACY idea is a revolution. Well, this depends on the point of view. The beneficiaries of the multi party system, the money interests, the influence lobbying, the seeking of power, the patronage appointments, etc. certainly will call this a revolution because they are the losers. But the winners will be the people and democracy itself. It will work as follows: Any party of today can put the TD idea on their program or a new party, the TD party, can be founded. The main objective of this party will be to bring in and establish the TD system. Once elected into the government, the task is twofold. First, to govern as usual. Second, to install the infrastructure for the TD system during the time frame of their mandate. This installation of the infrastructure will be a huge and expensive task [the parliament buildings all over the country, the satellites, the cable, the electronic gear, etc.] The preparations can be done in conjunction with the respective industries. Everything should be ready for the upcoming election campaign in order to present the electorate with the cost analysis which will also include the cost saving of the amalgamation process of the provinces and territories. Thus the voters have a clear picture what to expect. Furthermore, if this election is combined with the referendum of whether or not to amalgamate the provinces and territories, the incoming government is ready to sign the contracts the first day in office. When the day for transition from the old to the new system is approaching, all parties of the parliament will select the first TD government. It's quite possible that the sitting government will continue in office. The only difference will be that each minister is now really accountable to the new TD e-parliament. On transition day all MPs, MPPs, and provincial ministers will close their offices, go home and occupy the new offices in their ridings. Within 24 hours the TD e-parliament, now the power of the state can be in place and the affairs of the state can continue. Thus the transition from one system to another will be quite peaceful. It will not be a revolution, but just another step in the evolution of democracy. - - - - - - - - - - - I am well into my senior years and I have no aptitude to be neither a politician nor am I obsessed with a mission. Nevertheless, I am convinced that democracy, even as we have it today, is still the best way to govern a society. But, like any other human product, it can be improved. For this reason I will send this idea of a different democratic system into cyberspace with the hope that someone will pick up the challenge and make TRUE DEMOCRACY or something similar, a reality. |