reflection on the election

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"Electoral tides are powerful things that often wash ashore some very weird fish."

— JIM COYLE, Toronto Star (2006/01/17)

we may not get the government we want, but we'll get the one we deserve...

i've said it once, i'll say it again: vive la démocr --- ah, forget it...

after being a campaign volunteer canvassing and polling, getting up early and staying out late, slogging through the snow and the cold, having doors shut in my face and the phone hung up on me several times; after debating and discussing the issues with family, friends, and strangers; after the frustration of watching negativity and mudslinging dominate the campaign and bemoaning the absence of intelligent debate; after being exposed to the apathy and disinterest of many peers as well as the intractable dogmatism and partisanship of others; and later, having the opportunity to be there to the very end as an election scrutineer when the ballots are counted — well, instead of focusing on the negatives of politics and the failings of democracy, i'd rather think of it like this:

For each candidate who makes it to Ottawa, there will be two or more dedicated Canadians who will not. And when voters go to the polls today, they should remember that they are beholden to all candidates, regardless of which one they support, for giving them a real choice. People from all walks of life — lawyers, teachers, students, business owners, community volunteers — are running for office, from celebrities such as Liberals Michael Ignatieff and Ken Dryden, to their less well-known but equally committed opponents. Willingly, even cheerfully, they put their names forward, open their lives to the scrutiny of strangers, run the near-certain risk that some day — if not this time — they'll be found wanting, scorned, rejected.

It's madness, really.

Most of the scores of men and women across Greater Toronto running in today's federal election will be defeated. Of those elected, many will never see the government side of the House. Of those elected to government, few will reach levels at which they wield much influence or their names become known beyond their own neighbourhoods. And still Canadians seek the job — committing themselves, honouring the process, serving their country and their fellows. Today, a tip of the battered old bowler to them all.

I like politicians. Always have. I think they're under-appreciated, under-paid, scapegoated and slandered. They don't run, in most cases, to get famous. They don't run to get rich. They don't even run to get powerful. Few ever do. Usually, they run because they have ideas or ideals. They run because they've heard a call to duty. They run because they imagine something better — maybe a New Deal, a New Frontier, a New World Order. By and large, they are men and women who have put their personal lives on hold to make a difference, to give something back to their communities and their country. Many have given up a job and a paycheque to enrich our democracy, and all have sacrificed time with their families and friends in their desire to make the country a better place.

Since the watershed of the 1970s, when Vietnam and Watergate produced generations predisposed to think the worst of elected officials, government and politics have fallen into disrepute. There's been damage done to all by the relentless attack. In a commencement address at Harvard, Al Gore once spoke about the high cost of such cynicism: "Cynicism is deadly. It bites everything it can reach — like a dog with a foot caught in a trap. And then it devours itself. It drains us of the will to improve; it diminishes our public spirit; it saps our inventiveness; it withers our souls."

Neither has the country been well served by the notion that election campaigns are about costing and detailing every initiative for years to come, that straying a step from such blueprints afterwards is a firing offence. The campaigns that make history are those that call us to national purpose, that remind us — eyes on a Just Society, say — the reach should exceed the grasp. For what is government if not just us, our disagreements and dissensions, our aspirations and ambitions, the whole (one hopes) exceeding the sum of the parts.

If by politics one thinks of the shenanigans and scandals that dominate the news, the disdain is deserved; but if by politics, one imagines, as Czech president Vaclav Havel did, the "art of the impossible," it is something admirable and essential. Scuffed as he was by the experience, former Ontario premier Bob Rae saw its value: "I would encourage anyone with a thick skin, a good sense of humour, a love of people and the noise of the arena to take up the torch. I have learned that politics cannot solve all ills, that it is not to be confused with life itself, but that it is a worthy and necessary pursuit."

Like professional sports coaches, politicians are essentially hired to be fired. For most, their rejection will come before they ever get a chance to start. The consolation will be in knowing, as Edward Kennedy did in losing a bid for a presidential nomination long years ago, that "the work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives and the dream shall never die."

For all of that, to all of you, thanks.

— JIM COYLE, Toronto Star (2006/01/21)

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