I haven't written a lot of nice things about consensus government over the years.
It seems beneath Northerners to hang on to this 19th century holdover. Cobbled together by carpetbaggers from Ontario and moustached-British expats in smoking jackets, consensus government produced a gazillion acclamations SA国际影视传媒� as it does today SA国际影视传媒� and zero interest among the bushwhackers and prairie homesteaders it governed (Indigenous affairs were strictly a federal concern).
The territory at the time, which included all of Alberta, Saskatchewan and most of Manitoba, had only recently been surrendered by the Hudson's Bay Company. I must confess itSA国际影视传媒檚 only a presumption but if these people didnSA国际影视传媒檛 have party politics itSA国际影视传媒檚 because the train couldnSA国际影视传媒檛 get them to the convention in time.
When former premier Floyd Roland stood up in the legislative assembly a decade ago and proclaimed, SA国际影视传媒淚'm consensus to the core!SA国际影视传媒� it was surely not this consensus government he had in mind.
Alas, political reformation has never been a big part of this project. That would let new stuff in, and if you want to serve three, four terms in the legislative assembly reform might be bad for business.
But, as some readers of last week's column took pains to point out, consensus government doesnSA国际影视传媒檛 hold a monopoly on lousy government. This country elected a Liberal government in 2015, buoyed in no small part by Justin TrudeauSA国际影视传媒檚 promise SA国际影视传媒渢o do things differently,SA国际影视传媒� and well, we all know how that one worked out.
Increasingly I gotta admit though, the best thing about consensus government is that there are no political parties. Well let me rephrase that; no focus group-testing hive-mind telling our MLAs what to say and how to vote. We elect MLAs to represent us, not to clap like seals at a circus ringmaster holding a bucket of fish.
Our MLAs, or at least the regular MLAs, can say what they want, vote how they want, and when they mess up, even really, really mess up, it's voters who decide whether they should get another shot, not their SA国际影视传媒渂oss.SA国际影视传媒�
So Northerners at least have a reasonable expectation that when they elect an MLA, they can still influence them after the votes are counted.
And we have ways of ensuring this.
Northerners are fond of pointing out how often youSA国际影视传媒檒l see MLAs SA国际影视传媒� even cabinet ministers SA国际影视传媒� while at the grocery store. After all, theySA国际影视传媒檙e not U.S. senators. They have to go shopping sometimes. And then weSA国际影视传媒檙e there to ask questions. I like to corner politicians at the light bulb rack at Canadian Tire, mainly because I seem to be there a lot.
CanSA国际影视传媒檛 say shopping with MLAs is a feature of consensus government but thereSA国际影视传媒檚 no denying how the absence of party politics yanks away the comforting cloak of party affiliation. There is no party brand to save them at election time. Candidates in consensus government must connect with at least some of the voters individually if they want to get elected.
But of course, consensus government's greatest strength is also its greatest weakness. Its lack of cohesion during elections means there is no platform for voters to choose from. This means the SA国际影视传媒済overnmentSA国际影视传媒� gets decided after the election, put in the hands of a cabinet not directly accountable to voters while heading a deeply entrenched bureaucracy even less likely to be swayed by elections.
And this, unfortunately, makes us, voters, less relevant. If we did matter, the mandate would be served during the election, not after MLAs choose a premier and cabinet behind closed doors.
There must be someway to get the best of both worlds. To have MLAs who will do what voters want, and for whom a vote means more than a slightly positive inkling, because the candidate was nice to your kids once when you crossed paths with them at the Multiplex.
Maybe the new crop of MLAs will give this some thought heading into the next legislative assembly. But there's some mighty headwinds there, and change is awfully hard once you've been elected.
