Canada needs a nonpartisan democracy.
Over the last 100 years the Canadian political system has become infected with partisan politics, corruption and ever growing influence from corporations. The voters of Canada are showing record high levels of apathy has they feel powerless in a system ruled by money and political manoeuvring. Currently Political parties show far more interest in their own power then running the country. They spew hatred and ideological rants instead of understanding and compromises. They prevent MPs from voting in the best interest of the country and instead have them oppose the other party. Every issue becomes an all or nothing battle of us versus them. It seems that there is no solution without radical change to our system and even that may not solve the problem.
In reality, however, there is a very simple solution. The Canadian Parliamentary system was designed to work without political parties. The government of Canada is the House of Commons and the Prime Minister is simply the MP who can gain the confidence of the majority of the house. We would simply remove all political parties from the equation and elect only independent members of parliament. The Prime Minister would be chosen by parliamentary consensus. Then he/she could select their caucus from the most capable MPs of the entire house. This would mean decisions could made not on ideology, but on the consensus of all members of parliament and the people they represent.
You may think this is just a "pie in the sky" idea, something that could not possibly work. How would they agree on who should be Prime Minister? Would they get anything done? Has this ever been done? Well, it has been done before and in fact right here in Canada. All three Northern Territories use nonpartisan democracy.
The only thing you elect under the current system is a proxy vote for one of the four leaders, Would you not rather elect a true representative of your riding.
Over the last 100 years the Canadian political system has become infected with partisan politics, corruption and ever growing influence from corporations. The voters of Canada are showing record high levels of apathy has they feel powerless in a system ruled by money and political manoeuvring. Currently Political parties show far more interest in their own power then running the country. They spew hatred and ideological rants instead of understanding and compromises. They prevent MPs from voting in the best interest of the country and instead have them oppose the other party. Every issue becomes an all or nothing battle of us versus them. It seems that there is no solution without radical change to our system and even that may not solve the problem.
In reality, however, there is a very simple solution. The Canadian Parliamentary system was designed to work without political parties. The government of Canada is the House of Commons and the Prime Minister is simply the MP who can gain the confidence of the majority of the house. We would simply remove all political parties from the equation and elect only independent members of parliament. The Prime Minister would be chosen by parliamentary consensus. Then he/she could select their caucus from the most capable MPs of the entire house. This would mean decisions could made not on ideology, but on the consensus of all members of parliament and the people they represent.
You may think this is just a "pie in the sky" idea, something that could not possibly work. How would they agree on who should be Prime Minister? Would they get anything done? Has this ever been done? Well, it has been done before and in fact right here in Canada. All three Northern Territories use nonpartisan democracy.
The only thing you elect under the current system is a proxy vote for one of the four leaders, Would you not rather elect a true representative of your riding.
