Sunday, October 25, 2015

The Virtues Of Civility



Probably one of the most obviously distressing aspects of the last ten years has been the precipitous drop in political civility, earmarked by fractious and factious exchanges in the House of Commons. No longer a chamber for informed debate, under the Harper reign it became a vehicle by which the government denigrated all opponents and thumbed its nose at the concept of transparency and accountability, thereby alienating the general population and discouraging people from any form of participation in the democratic process.

We live now with high hopes that will all change.

There is an encouraging story told by Susan Delacourt suggesting that our hopes have a chance of being realized:
I asked Trudeau: what was the big difference in his two lives on the Hill — as the son of a prime minister in the 1970s and 1980s and as a backbench MP in 2010?

Trudeau said he had two answers to that question: one he was accustomed to answering publicly, one he kept to himself.

First, the oft-repeated answer: he was surprised to realize how much he liked constituency work, helping people in his Montreal riding of Papineau. He had never seen that aspect of MPs’ work through his father, who had staff to handle issues in the riding.

As for the other answer, Trudeau looked around to see who might overhear him. Careful to keep his voice down, he said he was stunned to see how some MPs treated their staff, and the air of entitlement around them. He was truly surprised to learn that many staffers had to endure temper tantrums from their bosses. “Who do they think they are?” he said, glancing in the direction of an MP or two dining nearby.
Apparently, Justin learned a valuable lesson from his father when he was a child:
Trudeau then told me about how when he and his brothers were young, the only times they got in serious trouble with Pierre was when they showed disrespect to their RCMP protection officers. Overhearing the boys call one of the officers “Baldy,” Trudeau gathered them together and furiously scolded them, telling them that these men had families and lives they were putting on the line to watch over them.

This is not a prime minister who is going to rule with fear, it seems.
Basic decency and empathy are qualities I think most of us try to practise in our daily lives. To see them applied in the public arena would, without question, mark a radical and highly desirable shift in our political culture.

12 comments:

  1. Used to live in a country where the PM or his ministers would run you off the road as their motorcades sped down the road with the police escort blaring the sirens and angrily waving away motorists slow to move to the side. Thought that I had seen the end of that when I came to this country. However, while it may not be quite so bad, I have been reading about how the line of black SUV's would race along between 24 Sussex and the Langevin block transporting our self anointed King of "Conada" at least twice a day.

    I am hoping the above comes to an end with Justin Trudeau. I have read stories about how his father used to walk along the street in Montreal. I have also seen the video showing him sitting down when the bottles and stones were flying, and others around him were running away, that St. Jean Baptiste day. Then I think of how Steve had run for the closet and his acolytes and the MSM, including the CBC, disappointingly misled the public that it was his security detail that had pushed him into hiding (there was no security with him, as many papers in the world had correctly reported). CBC never corrected their misreporting as far as I know.

    I think Pierre Trudeau likely brought up his sons well and I would be surprised to find out anything different in the next few years. Also, like Obama, and unlike Steve, I do not think Justin fears his fellow citizens. As this past week has shown, I think it is his own caucus that Steve should fear now that voters have oblidgingly removed their muzzles for them (thought they were supposed to stand up for and represent their constituents, not the other way around). :)

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    1. The incoming government has many opportunities to start afresh, Anon. Let's hope they avail themselves of them. At this point, I am hopeful, and I especially like your point about Justin not fearing his fellow citizens. That, in itself, I think, is the best reason to hope for much better things from Trudeau et al. than we ever got from the old government.

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  2. Best thing the new PM can do is make that point with all of his caucus. They have reason to be proud that most people in their riding chose to support them as their representative. But they are not special. They are not entitled. And, if someone should treat them as though they were it is only because they are playing to that persons ego to get something from them. They do deserve respect but so do we all.

    I'm very pleased to hear that his father taught him that lesson.

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    1. Well-stated, Anon. Humility in our elected officials is something that would serve the entire country really well.

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  3. As Atticus Finch told Scout, Lorne, one of life's most valuable "tricks" is to be able to get inside somebody else's skin and walk around in it.

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    1. Funny you should mention Atticus, Owen. I was thinking exactly the same thing as I wrote this post.

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  4. hi Lorne...I also found that story very encouraging. I do believe that Justin Trudeau has the empathy and the decency to reflect our Canadian values that have suffered so much over the last ten years. And I am happy to see how positive he has been since winning the election. With that kind of approach I have high hopes that we can help rebuild this country sooner that I had imagined even in my fondest dreams. Dare to dream, dare to believe...

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    1. Trudeau certainly seems to be on the correct path, Simon. I hope that he continues thus; our pride as a nation has suffered so much over the past decade that its restoration seems vital if we are to once more thrive.

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  5. Lorne, Harper indeed has done too much harm. As someone said that if something goes wrong with your computer you reset it to a previous date to overcome the problem. Trudeau will have to reset country to 2005 to give him a good start. Harper's foreign policy gave us a bad name and at home he did a lot of damage - he listened to big corporations and oil companies only.

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    1. I like your analogy of the computer reset, LD, but given the extent of Harper's damage, a complete reboot may be in order, or the very least, utilization of the 'system restore' utility.

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  6. I'm relieved Trudeau won a solid majority, Lorne. Both opposition parties are in disarray, floundering. Stalwart New Dems want a return to pre-Layton principles. The other half want to double down on Mulcair. The Tories are fractured into at least three camps and, with no bully to scare them into obedience, they may be unable to find much common ground around which to coalesce. I suspect there may be a lot of blood on the floor before either party settles down enough to reclaim a solid political presence.

    It pleases me that Trudeau seems intent on steering clear of his rivals' in-house problems. Civility should be the order of the day.

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    1. I agree, Mound, that there is a lot of potential here; it would be nice to think that an entirely new tone and relationship amongst politicians is possible. Its impact on democracy's health would be tremendous.

      As for the other parties, times in the wilderness can be times well- spent. Let us hope they each comes out of the experience not only older, but also wiser.

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