Election 2008: Speaking Up for Change

In May, when CPJ was in Edmonton for our Envisioning Canada Without Poverty workshops, an interesting discussion arose. As we encouraged the group to contact their elected representatives to request a poverty reduction strategy, someone protested strongly that change was not possible. Alberta’s continued election of the same political parties at the provincial and federal levels had left him feeling hopeless. What was the point of talking to his MP or MLA if they didn’t support his point of view? He believed they had no incentive to listen to him because they felt secure about their re-election. Feeling unrepresented by politicians, he felt governments were disconnected from his life and unrelated to the problems he cared about.

Others immediately began to speak up. They were frustrated too. They also felt it wasn’t easy to work for change. They were unlikely to see big changes in voting patterns. But they still felt the government’s actions and decisions were the responsibility of every Albertan. They hoped and worked for change. And even when they didn’t expect change, they still felt it was their responsibility to speak up. They needed to let their representatives know that they didn’t support current policies, even if they couldn’t change them.

For me, it was a personal reminder of an important part of working for justice – failure to speak up about injustice is essentially acquiescing to its continued existence. Even when we feel powerless, we need to engage in acts that say “I do not acquiesce. I do not support this agenda. I believe this is wrong.” To borrow Gandhi’s formulation, refusal to support injustice is as much a duty as supporting justice.

I’ve been thinking about this reminder lately as Canadians head into our third election in four years. We’ve seen so much maneuvering by all the political parties, opportunism trumping principle, political debate being lowered to a level of name-calling and accusations, promises made and promises broken. Significant issues remain unaddressed while they squabble. Political polls haven’t shown great enthusiasm for any of the political parties, and elections don’t seem to provide much in the way of change. Why are we voting again? How easy it would to be cynical about it all!

And how easy it would be to let cynicism keep us from voting. How easy it would be to let cynicism keep us from working for change. To stay home on voting day. To stay disengaged and feel disenfranchised.

Political parties know this too. Cynicism is a condition they will try to exploit in their favour. There will be millions of dollars spent on advertising this campaign, trying to convince you that other parties are bad for the country. Politicians will be rightly or wrongly portrayed as liars, promise breakers and all manner of sinister qualities. Negative advertising might not convince you to vote for them, but it will convince you not to vote for the alternatives. In fact, it could convince you not to vote at all.

Cynicism is a tool the status quo uses to its advantage. If you give up working and voting for change because you don’t believe change is possible, change will never happen. Political parties and elected representatives that don’t want to make changes won’t have to. They will be able to say there is no desire for anything different.

Don’t let them fool you into becoming cynical and disengaged. The only way change will happen is if we become and stay engaged. Be a consistent, public voice for the ideas and actions you support, and take an equally public stand against the ideas and actions you don’t support. Be prepared to work for change over the long haul, even if you never see it occur in your lifetime. Develop a relationship with your Member of Parliament, even if you don’t support their party. You might be able to change their mind on an issue through thoughtful dialogue. Even if you don’t, you can let them know – respectfully – that you don’t support their agenda.

And even if we have to repeat this election in another two years, vote. Get involved in the campaign, learning about issues, asking the candidates challenging questions, encouraging them to get active on your issues. Vote for the candidate you believe will work for public justice in Canada.

There’s a possibility things won’t change with this election even if you vote. Then again, if individuals Canadians fall prey to cynicism and become disengaged, things definitely won’t change. Let’s not acquiesce.