"Evolution" in politics
Now that all of the election fun is behind
us, the time has come to see if Dalton
McGuinty will follow up on his campaign
promises. The unfortunate truth? They may
never happen.
Yes, he promised $1,600 applied against university tuition in January with $730 for college students, but will we ever see that money? The answer is not as readily available as one would hope.
In terms of law, there is nothing that states that candidates are required to follow through with promises made during the election campaign. In short, they can say anything they want to get your vote and are not obligated to act on it if elected. Isn't it a sad state of affairs when Canadian Supreme Court Justice Paul Rouleau has said that anyone who believes a campaign promise is "naïve?"
This evolution in politics, where leaders now appear to the public as hypocritical, is driving a wedge between Canadians and our government. It seems that the government is less and less interested in representing the opinions of its constituency, but is instead catering exclusively to the popular vote.
So what was Justice Paul Rouleau's advice for holding Ontario politicians, in this case Dalton McGuinty, to their election promises? Wait till the next election. It is the responsibility of the people to make their opinion heard by not electing or re-electing a known promise-breaker. So in the province of Ontario, this means four years of breathing room before the next provincial election brings another round of promises.
But a lot can happen in four years; the Liberals might want to lower the legal drinking age to 12. Obviously this is not in the best interest of the province, but how do you remove a Canadian politician when they're obviously unfit to be in a position of power?
You don't.
Seriously.
In the United States there's a process known as impeaching, in which a public official can be charged with misconduct and removed from office. No such provision exists in Canada. The closest thing we have is recall legislation in British Columbia. Said provision is exclusive to the province but entails that if a petition gains enough signatures from residents of an individual riding, the position becomes vacant and a re-election is declared. Until now, Ontarians were helpless to overthrow our Premier.
The Liberals only managed to achieve a minority government. Missing just one seat that would have given them a majority has left the party vulnerable. It is now in McGuinty's best interest to cater to the opposition, and as unwieldy as it may sound, this method is used widely by the international community. In the North American and British parliamentary systems for some reason it's considered wrong to work with a spirit of cooperation. If McGuinty can take a hint and try to work with the other parties instead of against them, the next four years should be ones where Ontario's government finally delivers.
Editorial opinions or comments expressed in this online edition of Interrobang newspaper reflect the views of the writer and are not those of the Interrobang or the Fanshawe Student Union. The Interrobang is published weekly by the Fanshawe Student Union at 1001 Fanshawe College Blvd., P.O. Box 7005, London, Ontario, N5Y 5R6 and distributed through the Fanshawe College community. Letters to the editor are welcome. All letters are subject to editing and should be emailed. All letters must be accompanied by contact information. Letters can also be submitted online by clicking here.
Yes, he promised $1,600 applied against university tuition in January with $730 for college students, but will we ever see that money? The answer is not as readily available as one would hope.
In terms of law, there is nothing that states that candidates are required to follow through with promises made during the election campaign. In short, they can say anything they want to get your vote and are not obligated to act on it if elected. Isn't it a sad state of affairs when Canadian Supreme Court Justice Paul Rouleau has said that anyone who believes a campaign promise is "naïve?"
This evolution in politics, where leaders now appear to the public as hypocritical, is driving a wedge between Canadians and our government. It seems that the government is less and less interested in representing the opinions of its constituency, but is instead catering exclusively to the popular vote.
So what was Justice Paul Rouleau's advice for holding Ontario politicians, in this case Dalton McGuinty, to their election promises? Wait till the next election. It is the responsibility of the people to make their opinion heard by not electing or re-electing a known promise-breaker. So in the province of Ontario, this means four years of breathing room before the next provincial election brings another round of promises.
But a lot can happen in four years; the Liberals might want to lower the legal drinking age to 12. Obviously this is not in the best interest of the province, but how do you remove a Canadian politician when they're obviously unfit to be in a position of power?
You don't.
Seriously.
In the United States there's a process known as impeaching, in which a public official can be charged with misconduct and removed from office. No such provision exists in Canada. The closest thing we have is recall legislation in British Columbia. Said provision is exclusive to the province but entails that if a petition gains enough signatures from residents of an individual riding, the position becomes vacant and a re-election is declared. Until now, Ontarians were helpless to overthrow our Premier.
The Liberals only managed to achieve a minority government. Missing just one seat that would have given them a majority has left the party vulnerable. It is now in McGuinty's best interest to cater to the opposition, and as unwieldy as it may sound, this method is used widely by the international community. In the North American and British parliamentary systems for some reason it's considered wrong to work with a spirit of cooperation. If McGuinty can take a hint and try to work with the other parties instead of against them, the next four years should be ones where Ontario's government finally delivers.
Editorial opinions or comments expressed in this online edition of Interrobang newspaper reflect the views of the writer and are not those of the Interrobang or the Fanshawe Student Union. The Interrobang is published weekly by the Fanshawe Student Union at 1001 Fanshawe College Blvd., P.O. Box 7005, London, Ontario, N5Y 5R6 and distributed through the Fanshawe College community. Letters to the editor are welcome. All letters are subject to editing and should be emailed. All letters must be accompanied by contact information. Letters can also be submitted online by clicking here.
