Politics and Long Nights

Posted by John Streicker on 4 December 2009 | 0 Comments

It is a Yukon winter morning and as I begin to write this column, I am in the middle of a blackout. So I am using pen and paper. It has been a while since I wrote anything by hand.

Today also happens to be the day that I have to change out the stove-pipe on our wood stove. I can probably change it out without power but I will need to wait for more light. Lucky it is so mild out.

Blackouts, winter heating problems and a lack of light - to a reader from the outside it may seem like living in the Yukon is a challenge.

Maybe, but clearly it is worth it. The first time I experienced a Yukon summer I was in awe, but it was the Yukon winter that took my breath away.

From Remembrance Day, we begin to get ready. The nights are getting longer and the smell of wood smoke comes back, and all Yukoners begin to nest. It is a time for reflection.

It is the turning of the light and the promise of renewal that resonates with me. Like most Yukoners, I celebrate longest night as a time to think about what we have accomplished and to anticipate what is coming.

What has all this got to do with politics?

As day to day real life unfolds all around us, it sometimes seems that politics is in its own world. That world is very black and white, very polarized.

People who belong to different parties are opponents. Their points of view are criticized; their ideas are dismissed out of hand. While this behaviour does not seem appropriate for people we elect, it is very common.

The last time I sat through a session in the Legislature, I noted that everyone there was a Yukoner. Everyone in the House of Commons is a Canadian. But this is not how they are acting or interacting.

This fundamental disconnect is all but built into the system now. Politicians spend so much time and energy seeking power and maintaining it that we forget that this is not the end goal.

The goal of politics is, or at least should be, to make decisions on our behalf. Politics charts the path forward for people, communities, business, industry, the environment, etc.

Of course, the challenges we face are complex and there are rarely simple solutions. However, I am convinced that solutions are strengthened when we embrace the range of ideas that come from different perspectives.

I realize that I am criticizing government about being too political. But I am also offering a suggestion: good ideas are useful for all of us, regardless of who has put them forward. 

We need to be respectful of each other. If we are simply dismissive of political opponents or policies then we will always end up in the same place: polarized and entrenched.

And I do mean we. In a democracy we are the government. Politicians are simply the people that we select to do the work for us.

Remember that the public and the media have a role to play. Recently when speaking about this very subject, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said that we should feel “free to pursue the truth, to shine light into dark corners, and to assist the process of holding governments accountable."

Well said. I would not hold up our current Canadian government as particularly open with the public or the media, but I do agree with this statement.

It is important to be open about what is happening in government and open to constructive solutions to our complex problems.

So, in this light, the low light of a Yukon winter day, I would like to assist in the process of holding our government accountable.

In my last column, I spoke about Prime Minister Stephen Harper not going to the UN meetings in Copenhagen which begin next week. Since then he has changed his mind about attending.

Our Prime Minister is showing leadership in this decision and I wish to acknowledge that it is the right thing for him to go. What will he do there?

It is my hope that our Prime Minister will listen to the encouraging ideas that Yukoners have recently provided through resolutions from our Legislature, Whitehorse City Council and through the public.

These resolutions talk not only about Canada’s responsibility, but make a sincere offer to help the federal government sit down and hammer out solutions that involve all of us. It would be great to get past talk and see some action.

It is my hope that our Prime Minister will not just be there as the leader of a political party heading into an election sometime soon.

Now would be a great time for him to remember that he is there representing Canadians and our sense of purpose in building a brighter tomorrow.