Post-Boomer Politics

If we want to bring young Canadians back into the political fold, it's going to take a bold national strategy.

In 2017 – seven short years from now – Canada will celebrate its 150th birthday. Michael Ignatieff has issued a bold challenge: Let us develop a shared vision for our future, identify the main hurdles to getting there, and design a workable path to confidently meet our collective destiny as Canadians.

Students of history understand that where there are great needs, there are great opportunities. The real test of leadership will be to seize this remarkable and unique generational opportunity to advance a fresh, aggressive, and forward-looking reform agenda. Doing so will require an uncommon finesse and a large dose of political courage.

The national policy agenda has been dominated and dictated by the baby boom generation, and much of it is not relevant to those coming behind. A glaring symptom of the disconnect between boomers and post-boomers is the degree and extent to which the latter have disengaged from the traditional political process.

Young Canada is far more internationalist in outlook and diverse than young America. They are more open, peripatetic, and tolerant. Yet, this inherent genius is suppressed under the weight of the insecure boomers who continue to cast society in their increasingly fearful and closed worldview.

In the past few years, the federal government has retooled the public service to deal with the imagined fears of agitated and nervous boomers. Deliberate divide and conquer tactics by the Harper government have poured rocket fuel on this fire of growing anxiety. More prisons are being proposed to deal with a declining crime rate; more armed border guards to deal with imagined threats; a more muscular military to deal with futile engagements that would be infinitely better served by development and diplomacy; more accountants and auditors to deal with imagined corruption.

The list goes on.

This is a fatal recipe for Canada. The running of the country has always been based on a dialogue between citizens and their national government. In the absence of traditional bases for national identity (shared ethnicity, a strong founding mythology), Canadians have forged a sense of identity through a dialogue with the State. Medicare, the CNR, the RCMP, the CBC – this is what has nurtured our sense of self and place in the world.

There’s absolutely nothing in this that resonates with the post-boomer generation, and so they have understandably disengaged. In the last several general elections, a record number of Canadians have not even bothered to vote. This is particularly true of younger people. It’s been said that, presuming there is some sort of political judgment day, there will be no more serious charge brought than that young people were actively and systematically discouraged from active engagement in public affairs.

From a tactical perspective, “wedge” politics is behind much of this, systematically driving younger people away. Yet it is precisely this generation that has the most at stake in the current state of Canadian politics.

For the past five years, we’ve had gridlock. This has hurt us because on a fundamental level Canada needs reform and renewal. Change in the context of politics is a debased term. It shouldn’t be.

The most crucial global challenge of the 21st century is pluralism. We are well positioned in that regard because the single greatest achievement of Canadian society is that we have solved the riddle of diversity. As Europe and America tear themselves apart in this “clash of civilizations” and values, Canada enjoys an inherent competitive advantage. On this front we have inculcated diversity into our societal DNA. We are unremittingly cosmopolitan, tolerant, and open. We celebrate diversity and see it as an economic, social, and cultural advantage. This is especially true of post-boomers, who are open to trade and innovation.

Knowing this, what must be the anchor of a 21st century agenda for Canada?

I believe that what is required is a new, daring, and enlightened era of national political leadership that unites the country behind a bold and optimistic vision of the future. We must not fear tackling the fundamental issues confronting the country, no matter how intractable they may seem, if we are to fortify the ties that bind Canada. Removing the structural and institutional impediments to progress for a new generation necessitates deep change.

What I am suggesting is something no one wants to talk about: A 21st century agenda for Canada that starts with constitutional renewal. We’ve been spooked by past efforts to modernize our constitution and we are loath to reopen what have been divisive national debates. But modernize and reform we must if we have any hope of injecting relevance into our public life and strengthening the fabric of the country.

For some, the idea of a “national strategy” for anything is a euphemism for big and intrusive government. This is wrong and intellectually dishonest. A pan-Canadian approach in vital strategic areas will, in fact, be infinitely more efficient and productive than the hodgepodge of narrow and parochial policies in place today. And working together will also undoubtedly reinforce the ties that bind us as a nation.

We have grown to fear the prospect of what any healthy democracy should do: Renew, revitalize, and modernize. The unity of the country and the renewal of our economic and social union must drive our actions.

It has been far too easy and convenient to be lulled into comfortable, but profoundly misleading, feelings of security. The health and unity of the country requires constant creativity, energy, and nourishment so that our political cohesion is preserved and strengthened, and public administration – at all levels – is constantly improved.

Young Canadians will engage if they know that leaders are prepared to address the tough issues that we have been avoiding for far too long.

This is the first of a three-part series on the future of Canadian politics by Dan Veniez.