As thousands of Canadians protest Prime Minister Stephen Harper's decision to suspend Parliament, a new report says people are feeling increasingly alienated from the political process and its institutions.
The Institute of Wellbeing's report on democratic engagement, released Wednesday, says Canada is experiencing a huge democratic deficit that is only getting worse.
"The disconnect between Canadians and those who govern on their behalf is deep, wide and growing," institute CEO Lynne Slotek said in a statement.
"At a time when people are demanding greater accountability and transparency, they see their government institutions becoming more remote and opaque."
The report points to the fact that voter turnout in the last federal election was the worst in Canadian history.
Participation rates in formal political activities is also declining, with volunteer hours dropping 15 per cent from 2004 to 2007. And the participation of women in Parliament has remained stubbornly at around 20 per cent since 1997.
The report also cites recent surveys which suggest Canadians are skeptical that government policies have made their lives better.
The institute recommends governments look at ways to entrench citizen engagement in policymaking, and then audit that engagement on a regular basis. It also suggests investing in think-tanks and other non-governmental organizations that do research and advocacy on public policy.
The Conservative government has cut funding for such groups since it came to power in 2006
The non-partisan institute, chaired by former Saskatchewan Premier Roy Romanow, includes democratic engagement in its Canadian index of well-being. The index measures the quality of life of Canadians based on a number of indicators.
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Noggy
2 years ago
I believe with all my heart
I believe with all my heart that there is a wealth off untapped ideas out there, waiting in peoples thoughts. However, they are unable or reluctant to put their ideas forward. Knowing they will be dismissed because the only people parliament want to hear from is the ultra-wealthy.
We are buried and smothered in deceit.
freebear
2 years ago
So we get battle of the think tanks!
We need discussion on where current and considered policy is taking Canada/BC/your town!
What are the consequences of ever increasing housing costs? Increasing emissions? Decreasing incomes when the boomers retire; or have to work at meglo mart!
On the one hand we have policies to encourage healthy living; and on the other we approve more drive thrus for fast food restaurants!
max von smartt
2 years ago
electoral reform needed
problem is with our first past the goal post/ winner takes all is that there is no proportional representation. the greens and ndp are guaranteed to split the vote in favor of right or far right. and of course it takes a lot of money to run a campaign.
crankypants
2 years ago
It was inevitable
Our electoral system has been broken for a long time. The candidates that get elected today, no matter which party the run for, are only answerable to their specific party. The citizens are nothing more than an inconvenience that must be cajoled during an election then ignored until the next election.
Only when the political party becomes extinct will we have true democracy rather than the democratic dictatorships we are being served up today.
Dan the socialist
2 years ago
To be quite honest I am not
To be quite honest I am not surprised. This has been the case my whole life and more and more people quit voting, get disenfranchised year after year. Voter turn outs for the most part have been on a steady decline for many many years. Politicians don't provide hope or positiveness, they act worse than kids, in the pockets of big business, the rich and other special interest, are completely out of touch with the average people..
We also need a better voting system federally and provincially. Like real MMP not that stv stuff. Governments should not get majorities with 39%, but citizens have to know coalitions are 'normal' in many parts of the world too as we are going to be in perpetual minority as long as the BQ are strong but going to mmp will even things up somewhat although not as much as full pro rep. The Cons, BQ, Libs benefit from the current system as it gives them more seats, if we had full-pro rep the NDP would have 20 more seats and the Greens would have 20 while the BQ and Cons would lose seats.
seth
2 years ago
Facebook
The Cons have been extremely successful getting their religious supporters participating at the grassroots level. Ditto the GOP down south. When the preacherman gets up on his hind legs, and extorts the faithful they goosestep in lockstep right up to the fascist party recruiting desk.
Obama was very effective at motivating younger voters to participate at the grassroots using the innernet. Hopefully Facebook and Twitter if skillfully employed can get a progressive movement to motivate and direct voters to participate at the grassroots level and eradicate the rot in the Liberal/NDP/Green/Democratic parties.
Sask Resident
2 years ago
Think Tanks
I would never class the Institute of Wellbeing as non-partisan, not saying that a partisan think tank is a bad thing. But Romanow did ask for more taxpayer money for think tanks.
Canada has two regional rump parties, the B|Q and the, essentially, Toronto Liberals while the CPC and the NDP fight for seats in the rest of the country. Toronto has a lot of people so the Liberals get a reasonable number of MPs. Same for Quebec.
Proportional representation would mean that losing votes for a Liberal in BC would help the Liberals get another MP from Toronto. Proportional voting would have allowed Icky to appoint many more Liberals from southern Ontario (like he cares about the country outside of the golden triangle!).
Each general election is really 308 separate elections for an MP. A single transferable vote could be used to ensure each MP is elected by at least 50% of the votes in the constituency. BTW, of the leaders, only Harper and Duceppe won their seats with more than 50% of the vote, so a single transferable vote could mean that neither Jack nor Icky may have been elected.
Sask Resident
2 years ago
Religious seth
I remember when the priest use to tell the congregation before mass that it was their spiritual duty to vote for the Liberals, since they were the party for the Christians. I haven't been to mass for 10 years so I don't know what they tell people now.
St. Laurent, Trudeau, Turner, Clark, Mulroney, Chretien and Martin were all practicing Catholics when they were in power. Harper is the first non-Catholic PM (for any time, Campbell was an agnostic Anglican) for many years, so why would you claim that the conservatives are the religious party? Pearson, a Methodist, was an anomaly for the Catholic Liberals.
Frank
2 years ago
Sask Resident
Because Conservative support is highest in the Bible Belt. Scratch an evangelical and chances are you'll see Tory blue.
Trying to argue that the Cons are not the party that 9/10 of fundamentalists prefer goes against what everyone knows to be true.
As for pro-rep, the only reason you're against it is because the Cons would never win a majority again, ever.