Building resilience in the Saugeen Region.
Democracy is a Verb.
I recently conducted a quick sidewalk poll asking people for the definition of democracy. Most of the answers fell into two broad generalizations. The first being, “the opportunity to choose our government” and the second, “the freedom to live as I see fit without interference.”
These responses reveal our current hands-off approach to democracy and governance. A percentage of us take the occasional opportunity given to us to decide who should govern our country, province, and municipality. Then we take our hands off the wheel (so to speak) and let those we have chosen set the course, while the rest of us ride in the passenger seats, occasionally checking the map to see if we’re on course. If we find that our “driver” has taken us off the set route, we have little or no recourse to take back control of the wheel until the next election.
This has not always been the case. In the early days of democracy in Saugeen (Grey/Bruce), citizens were much more engaged in the political and community life of the region. Perhaps it was the great investment made by the early pioneers in their land and work that made participation worthwhile and necessary. I believe this is the reason we are seeing renewed political activity recently from the farming community as it is difficult to stand by and allow bureaucrats to destroy that which has demanded one’s blood, sweat, and tears. A few recent examples aside, history shows that Saugeen residents of earlier days felt a much greater degree of ownership of government than is generally seen today in the age of television and so many other distractions.
Take the anti-slavery movement, the women’s suffrage movement, and agricultural movements of the past that were embodied in organizations like the CCF and Agnes MacPhail’s United Farmers of Ontario (to name a few). Some common characteristics emerge when we look at these movements:
- They were citizen driven not government lead (bottom up not top down).
- If the existing governments were not responsive to the wishes of the citizens, they were displaced and if they were responsive they retained power.
- They fundamentally changed the way in which we live as a society and gave control to people over their destiny.
A quick survey of our present approach reveals where our “hands-off” approach to formal democracy is getting us. Farmers are captive to weak foreign markets and high input costs. Small business is struggling to survive in the face of multinational corporations. Our health is suffering at the hands of a one-size–fits-all strategy. Our food is imported from around the world while local producers go out of business. We struggle with rising electricity costs while the technology exists to produce it right in our own neighbourhoods. Our environment is degraded as we attempt to keep pace in a global economy. Quality jobs disappear in the name of open and “free” trade. Community life has almost disappeared as we race from one distraction to another maintaining our “quality of life”.
If the picture is so gloomy, why are we not making more noise and taking more action? I believe we are living out the old “frog in the pot” scenario. Stick a frog in a pot of water and then turn the heat up gradually. The frog will boil before it realizes what is happening. I believe we would all be wise to stop and ask ourselves if this is indeed our situation.
Instead of boiling in the pot, I have a better idea. Let’s become re-engaged as citizens, not only on election day but in between as well. And let us not only seek concessions on specific issues that affect us personally, but aim to direct and reorganize the way in which we live, govern, and build our future. Our regional political history demonstrates that Saugeen residents have been some of the most engaged and proactive citizens in Canadian history. I believe it is time to renew this culture of responsibility for our future and as citizens once again own the processes that form our collective destiny. This is a stretch of the mind for many of us as we have become accustomed to the hands-off approach. It is well to remember that the definition of democracy is “government for the people and by the people". This means that citizens should direct their governments not follow them. To some this sounds like it flies in the face of the foundational Canadian ideals of “peace, order, and good government”. We must remember that “order” does not mean following like sheep to the slaughter for the benefit of the powerful. And according to the above definition of democracy, “good government” is you!
The obvious question that arises next is how participatory democracy can be done. Unfortunately, our modern society has weakened or eliminated many of the social and community structures that gave form to participatory democracy in the past. The first step we must tackle is to rebuild community. In times gone by, church socials, fall fairs, and farmers markets were among the venues where political action took shape. Today we still have some of these remaining, but we must also look for other avenues of community building and discussion. These may be service clubs, social clubs, farm or business organizations, work places or community groups formed around specific issues. These are the forums through which we can exercise participatory democracy. Then we need to effectively communicate what comes out of these forums to our elected representatives. And finally, we need the mechanism to hold our representatives accountable to the wishes of the citizenry.
As we are nearing municipal election day, the municipal all-candidates’ meetings that will be held the various municipalities are one tool we can use to participate. These are opportunities not only to hear where candidates stand on various issues, but to have direct input into the direction we move locally and regionally in Bruce & Grey Counties. The first all candidates' meeting in Owen Sound is being held October 10th at the library, hosted by Green Owen Sound. To find out dates for your municipality, contact your local municipal office and then attend. Never assume it won’t make a difference.
I am an optimist at heart. I believe we can deal with the pressing issues that we face in our region. I invite your feedback through posting comments to these articles. This is how we build consensus and community. We have a choice. The “frog in the pot” or “government by the people”. I hope you choose the later. Our future depends on it.
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Comment by Rural Canadian on June 6, 2010 at 17:12 -
It is clear that at the local level we, the citizens, still have a great deal of control over out destiny via the municipal councils, both in electing those who respect the democratic process and by participating in delegations to council where necessary. Unfortunately at the provincial level and more particularly at the Federal level it is becoming increasing clear that our input is becoming less and less influential. I therefore urge you all to follow Shane's lead and "become involved" or at least "say informed" about municipal affairs. As for the upper level of government, the internet seems to be increasingly the way in which to put at least some pressure upon the MP's and MPP's who would put themselves and their party before those citizens they purport to represent. One such on-line dialog is my own blog at http://democracyunderfire.blogspot.com/ , please join us and have your say. Original articles on the subject of governance and democracy are always welcome.
© 2012 Created by Shane Jolley.
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