The Nobility of Opposition

It's been quite often said in the media lately that being in opposition is perhaps the worst job imaginable in politics. It's hard not to agree. Gilles Duceppe, Jack Layton, Stephen Harper, and now Michael Ignatieff have all led parties in opposition and have learned that such difficult positions are a right of passage in public service. The pain of not having the power to change things while at the same time watching someone else maintaining such a privilege can be excruciating for some.Yet being in opposition can teach you that one essential which should be at the heart of any effective politician: advocacy. Not controlling the levers of power leaves you with little choice but to speak out on behalf of those who have been neglected our abused by power itself. When done in a sincere manner, it can be a remarkable and refining source of education to both the public and the politicians. Just a cursory look at the issues pressing Parliament today demonstrates numerous areas where the opposition parties have used their advocacy effectively.

• Copenhagen - while the government continues in the slow lane of environmental reform, all three opposition parties have put forward far more credible plans for lowering carbon emissions, elevating the urgency of climate change in the process
• Women's rights - the removal of the word "equality" from the Status of Women mandate by the present government only succeeded in arousing the other parties to press for action in a large array of issues where women are falling behind in advancement. Mr. Ignatieff's first-ever private member's bill, introduced last week, was on appointing a women's pay equity commissioner to ensure women were receiving equal pay for equal value of work
• Rights of Aboriginals - while the Harper government has refused to sign on to the UN's Rights of Aboriginal Peoples, opposition parties have pressed the government repeatedly in the House to address this wrong
• Parliamentary Budget Officer - Stephen Harper appointed Kevin Page to this important role, stating that the oversight of a government's financial dealings is of primary concern to the health of the nation. All three opposition parties pushed back hard when the government opted to cut back Mr. Page's budget and sought to silence him for speaking truth to power
• Detainees - the most high profile issue of late, finds the government in the uncomfortable position of having to backtrack on a number of its previous statements denying torture of detainees in Afghanistan. The government's attacks on its own civil servants, primarily Richard Colvin, has seen it reap the whirlwind as the opposition parties undertook serious work on the file
• KAIROS - this NGO had its funding cut by CIDA at the last minute and for no apparent reason.  MPs from the opposition parties have partnered together to press the Agency to restore its funding so that its serious work of defending the human rights of others can be sustained through its numerous effective programs

Opposition leaders and their parties can learn pivotal truths about governing while taking up such causes during opposition years. There is something impressive in witnessing opposition MPs learn the files, work together, and effectively use the tools of Parliament to bring such issues forward. I've only known opposition in my three years in office, but I can say that it is this aspect of political life I embrace the most. Some say they are lost causes, but I believe they are only "lost" because the government has refused to recognize them. That will change.Spending time in opposition becomes truly noble, however, when you struggle for something you know you might not win. Abraham Lincoln got it right when he said:

The probability that we may fail in the struggle ought not to deter us from the support of a cause we believe to be just."

As the Harper government repeatedly refuses to recognize the will of Parliament by ignoring the votes its has lost in the House, it hopes that Canadians don't notice and will move on to other things. Right now, however, the opposition is effectively reminding Canadians that important issues are at stake and that all of us will lose out if a government ignores Parliament itself - a truly noble work.