New Year's Resolutions for Politicians

A non-partisan plea for good governance, common sense, and leadership in Canadian politics in 2011.

I know perfectly well that there is no magic about compiling a list of resolutions – on New Year’s Day or any other chosen day – but it’s a cultural habit nonetheless, and I still insist on making a few each year and actually endeavouring to keep them.

Wouldn’t it be nice if politicians at all levels of government, regardless of where they sit on the ideological spectrum, could try to keep a few basic resolutions as well? I’ve suggested a few below, designed purposefully for non-partisan appeal and from a voter’s perspective. I’m not sure that they’ll gain much traction in 2011, but at least I can put a tentative tick next to my own New Year’s resolution – the one about trying to raise the level of democratic debate in this country. Here we go:

1. Please treat me as a citizen, not a taxpayer or a consumer. If I were only a taxpayer or a consumer, I might as well be living in China. But I live in a democracy, and I like to think that makes a difference. And as a citizen, I care not only about the money I shell out to ruling authorities, but for the provision of the public good, whether or not the public good applies to me or to society more broadly. I care not only about how much government costs, but about the quality of the governance itself. I don’t apply the same standards to government as I do to private business because, after all, government is not in it for profit but for something bigger. And some things that governments do simply cost a lot of money where a return on investment is impossible to calculate – how do you really measure the value of a healthy and educated population, safe streets, a country defended both at home and abroad? So appeal to my better self and not my baser self in constructing both law and policy, and remember that as Canadians we’re not just part of this national project because of our tax rates or where, how, and at what times we get to shop.
2. Educate me, don’t infantilize me. When facing a difficult policy decision or how to implement a complex initiative, educate me about the options and the factors that are involved. Don’t assume I’m an idiot incapable of holding more than two notions in my mind at the same time. Yes, I understand that governments have to make tough choices, that fiscal restraint is necessary, and sometimes a big project costs more than you thought it would. But please do not patronize me with slick and expensively produced advertisements on television that are thinly-disguised efforts at self-promotion that only result in further cynicism, something no government needs more of. And if you are in opposition to a policy, explain why and propose an alternative – then I’ll be in a better position to evaluate whether or not you ought to be in government instead come the next election.
3. Lead, don’t follow. It’s commonplace to bemoan the fact that politicians live and die by the polls, even as they universally claim that the only poll that ever matters is the one held on Election Day. But we know that handlers and staffers assiduously follow the polls, and parties regularly commission them, and I’m not for a moment going to go all utopian and suggest their elimination. But I would like politicians to think about leading like leaders, not followers of polls. Leadership means standing about the fray, sometimes taking an unpopular stand and not slicing and dicing an issue to appeal to particular constituencies. The second part of leadership involves followership – convincing us that you have our best interests at heart, and that you’re in a position to look at things from a larger and longer perspective, so that we have confidence in your ability to act.
4. Be relatively honest with me…really. We all say we want honest politicians but I’m not sure that we do. Nonetheless, it makes sense for our elected representatives to make the effort, in particular because it’s part and parcel of leading and not following, and educating the citizenry at large. No one really believes anymore that you can add more goodies to the budget without increasing taxes, so quit telling me that this is alchemically possible. And quit blaming public servants or their unions for shortcomings that you should own up to. If there are bigger forces at work limiting your scope of action, such as the erosion of our economic sovereignty due to globalization or the requirement to pay for our share of global security and protection of the environment, then tell me and prepare to pony up to pay the bill. Finally, tell me about the medium and longer term consequences of the actions you have taken: in a democracy, I not only deserve to know, I need to know.

So, dear elected politicians of all stripes, please consider these few modest suggestions as you deliberate on your own resolutions. Think about what working in and for a democracy means, what representative government entails, and what you owe the citizens in your respective constituencies. We deserve no less.