By Rebecca Roberts
Things might have seemed bleak if you were a Liberal MP with Jean Chrétien as your boss.
Chrétien’s firm hold on how you voted, whether you were a cabinet minister or a lowly backbencher, was striking; you practically lost the capacity to think for yourself.
You can probably count on one hand the number of questions your boss answered during his decades in Question Period. (The verb “to answer” is used here in a strict sense, not in the Chrétien sense, which is more akin to “to evade” or “to mock”).
His inability to express himself in either official language hardly inspired you.
But a more thorough analysis of your time with Chrétien reveals you were, to be frank, spoiled rotten.
One particular policy of his – guaranteeing nominations for sitting MPs – made your job easy.
Instead of worrying about being accountable to your constituents, all you needed to worry about was the reputation of the Liberal party. You could rest easy knowing you wouldn’t be challenged by another Liberal in the next election. As long as the Liberal Party of Canada remained the most desirable party to a majority of voters, you’d practically be guaranteed a seat.
As Canada’s next prime minister, Paul Martin is pledging to wipe out the “democratic deficit” that plagued Chrétien’s mandate. As a result, Chrétien’s policy of preventing internal party challenge is under review.
Martin will improve democracy in Canada if he eliminates this policy.
With opposition parties throwing themselves together, ripping each other apart, and struggling for solid leadership, the Liberal party seems at times like the only party capable of governing.
But a desirable party doesn’t always have desirable MPs. There are probably plenty of staunch Liberal supporters who hate their Liberal MPs. Under Chrétien, any Liberal who believed he or she could better represent the people of a Liberal riding was denied that chance. As a result, democracy in Canada suffered.
Take, for instance, the low number of women winning Liberal nominations and holding Liberal seats.
In the 1997 federal election, 37 women were elected as Liberal MPs representing about 24 per cent of elected Liberals. In 2000, 39 women were elected as Liberal MPs, representing about 22 per cent of elected Liberals. Clearly, there wasn’t a significant increase in the number of victorious Liberal women.
It shouldn’t come as a surprise. If a riding has voted Liberal, they’re likely to vote Liberal again, at least in today’s political climate. If 76 per cent of a party’s elected members are men and are guaranteed nominations in the next election, then it follows that these men will win the same seats in the next election and women will continue to be underrepresented in the House of Commons.
Under Chrétien, elections weren’t entirely free. Sitting MPs need to be challenged by those in opposition and by people within their own party in order for elections to be truly free.
If Martin were to eliminate this Chrétien left-over, he will send a clear signal he’s serious about change.
A democratic deficit can’t be wiped out with such a stain.