Political change

The United States has just experienced one of the greatest mid-term political shifts in their history. Republicans took control of the House, gained three Senate seats – which had the affect of grid locking the legislative process, and made huge gains in governorships and municipal government.

Just two short years ago, Barak Obama swept into office with a strong mandate to bring change. Remember his motto, “Change We Can believe In?” Then, in a process of political shifts, it became, “Change We Need.” Not to be outdone, John McCain and Sarah Palin, the Republican ticket, jumped on the change bandwagon as well. They kept reminding the electorate that, “We’re for change too!”

Well, change has occurred, and I suppose the only thing constant about change is change itself. Jawaharlal Nehru stated, “The wheel of change moves on, and those who were down go up and those who were up go down.” I guess the real question is, “Does anything really change?”

Ellen Glascow’s comment is intriguing when applied to political realities. She said, “All change is not growth, as all movement is not forward.” That’s true. Just because everything is different doesn’t mean that anything has changed. There may be different people in office but will the culminating affect be change that people can believe in and live with? Though Canada’s political system is quite different than our neighbour’s, not only in process and party dynamics but also in philosophy, what can our Canadian politicians learn from this historic shift that occurred across the border? Not every lesson can be transported across our borders, but I believe that nothing happens in a vacuum. We better have ears to hear.

The pundits believe that this was an expression of voter frustration with an unresponsive political system. President Obama, in his televised response to the vote, identified the dangers of elected leaders living in a bubble. This is the challenge to any governing leader or party. It is absolutely critical that anyone in political leadership keep their ear to the ground as well as their eye on the horizon. Both a grasp of reality and a communication of vision are required to lead.

Sadly, a similar disconnect occurred within our own province this week. Premier Gordon Campbell resigned “amid devastatingly low public popularity” (Winnipeg Free Press). There is no question that he was one of British Columbia’s most effective leaders, but there is no question that the way the Liberal Party handled the HST established his political fate.

John Kenneth Galbraith stated, “Faced with the choice of changing one’s mind and proving that there is no need to do so, almost everybody gets busy on the proof.” It takes an honest politician to recognize when party agenda has created a separation between himself and the people he was elected to serve, and this is every leader’s challenge.

This was also a vote for fiscal accountability. The ordinary citizen has had to tighten their belts to survive these last years of recession. They have had to prepare for the possibilities of growing unemployment. Private companies have had to look at every unnecessary cost to operations to ensure profitability and the possibility of continued growth. Has government managed the nation’s resources with the same level of fiscal integrity?

How long can a government continue to go into debt to service a nation’s future before that future becomes unattainable for generations? The debtor, sooner or later, becomes a slave to the lender. I know that there is good and bad debt, but Canada is on the brink. Canada used to be a “lender nation,” but it may become a “debtor nation” if it does not face its indebtedness seriously.

Electorates are fickle. Often their vote demonstrates a desire for change simply for change itself. But real change requires something more. Real change requires change to us first. Victor Frankl stated, “When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.”

We may not be able to change much with a vote these days. However that may be, change must go deeper. We cannot control the political winds, but we can affect change in ourselves. If we, the Canadian electorate, change, then there is hope for our children and for our nation’s future. The leaders we elect will then reflect a new public priority.