Parliament in the Snow

In a few years, Parliament will be on the move. Some major and minor construction work has to be undertaken at Centre Block and so moving day is in order.  The parliamentary chamber itself in the House will be moved to West Block once preparations there are completed.  West Block’s centre courtyard will be covered over and parliamentarians will have to handle their deliberations in a more constrained space.Yesterday, Parliament made a pre-emptive move in that direction. I’m not speaking of the House of Commons as the place where politicians debate and bureaucrats fuss, but that more egalitarian space called the “People’s House.”  Strange how it took the shutting down of that great building in prorogation to actually bring the “people” to the grandest Canadian political institution of all.  They stood outside on a glorious winter’s day – 3500 of them – claiming that it indeed was their abode and they wanted it back.It’s perhaps too early to tell whether Stephen Harper made a lasting tactical error in prorogation. It has been well understood in the last four years that the Conservative plan is to turn federal politics into a mean-spirited and hyper-partisan playground, so that Canadians get turned off and give up on frequenting the polls and voting for change.  Such diabolical reasoning actually seems to have worked for the Prime Minister.Until yesterday at least.  Canadians suddenly showed up across the country and even around the world to say they wanted their hallowed place back.  Yet as I looked out over the crowd in Ottawa yesterday, I realized that many of them, perhaps the majority, were members of special interest groups – environmentalists, electoral reform, unions, and political parties.  The Facebook group that helped to bring all this together claims to have some 230,000 members.  Impressive indeed, but hardly overwhelming.I stood with Michael Ignatieff on the steps as he proclaimed that we should, as politicians, hearken to the crowd and “get back to work.”  Applause and cheers erupted.  Yet in many senses that is what’s happening.  A large number of parliamentarians, me included, will be on the Hill for the next three weeks, holding roundtables, promoting national discussions and planning on how to improve public policy.Perhaps we should shift things around a bit.  How would it look if average citizens followed the lead of many of those at the rallies yesterday and actually got back to work, engaging in dialogue and ultimately voting their consciences in significant enough numbers to change the channel and undo the skepticism of our age?  That would be a marvelous thing – politicians and citizens in serious conversation.  It would have to be significant though.  Last election only 59% of Canadians voted – an all time low.  Will the PM’s caustic prorogation of Parliament be enough to turn the tide?Some of my Conservative colleagues have admitted to me that they are uncomfortable with what’s going on.  It’s interesting watching them twist themselves in pretzels in an effort to defend the indefensible.  But that’s what we have: well-meaning politicians frozen out in their own governing party and citizens frozen out in the snow. Hardly a model we want to send out into the world.On Saturday we saw Parliament subtly on the move.  Only the dedicated actions of more citizens voting their consciences for their party of choice will determine if that journey continues.  Many thanks to those who showed up and at least began the momentum.