Reach Out; Don't Preach Out!

Mr. Kevin Deveaux wrote recently for a CBC podcast about the need for Parliament to become better at reaching out to the public. (http://fw.to/CftGONX). 

Deveaux makes a good point, and he’s certainly not alone. As reported in the Toronto Star (November 24^th) Stephen Lewis recalled the respect that existed in the Ontario Legislature during the William Davis years which he attributed (in part) to the attitude of the Premier. Lewis was quoted as saying: “Vitriolic nastiness in debate does not breed respect…nor does the spectre of …exercising authoritarian control.”  

I served as Director of Research for a Select Committee of the Ontario Legislature on the Highway Transportation of Goods. It sat during a time of minority government (1976/77). The members of the Committee represented 3 parties and became a cohesive unit in search of reason as they reached out to the public, industry groups and other government bodies. It traveled to every corner of Ontario and examined regulatory systems in the US and parts of Europe. As noted in the Final Report, the Committee went to great lengths to ensure that its inquiry would be open and fair and would consider all the views of all who wanted and should be consulted.  The Chairman said in the final report: “…the Members of the Committee approached the task with vigour and a sense of purpose which enabled them to ...report on time and with unanimity…I congratulate them for their ability to work well together…”

There is need for our politicians and governmental systems to reach out and not preach out; my experience suggests that the Multi-party committee philosophy & model can be extremely useful to this end.  We know that people of different political persuasions can work together (and often enjoy doing so). We also know it creates better public policy…and that is what we need…public policy, not policy.