Election 2015 - Out of the One, Many"

IF THINGS KEEPING PROCEEDING ON THEIR present course, Election 2015 might bring about the end of what we might call ”the Long Consensus” – that hugely productive collaboration among political jurisdictions, the private sector, and the citizenry that characterized the decades following the Second World War. When we have our head elected official in the land refusing to meeting collectively with the premiers of the provinces throughout his entire mandate, then you can bet that collaboration won’t be one of the political buzzwords of this campaign.Which leaves communities with a problem: if our politics is based on a battle of “parts” that no longer practice respect or pursuit of common principles, then how can communities come together collectively under such a paradigm? The truth is that they can’t.It is time for a new breed of politician, the woman or man who respects their community when it collectively desires something different, and fights for that place. This kind of politics isn’t about left or right, but the way forward based on community and national will.The word partisan itself was first used in 1555 in Tuscany, Italy, where it referred to someone who was “part” of a group or sect. Ironically a second meaning emerged within a few years where the term was used for a weapon with a long shaft and broad blade. In twenty-first century Canada, both of those meanings have become synonymous and Canadians have had enough.The list of aspirations Canadians share is far lengthier than what they disagree on. We want a clean environment. We desire a future for our children better than our present. We long for dignified jobs that put meaning back into lives and communities. We yearn for a capitalism that embraces its social responsibilities. We want to be proud again of our place in the world. And, yes, we pray for a kind of politics that puts respect and results above rancor and resentment. This things are a given, but politics won’t give them to us.Overt partisanship has had its day and it’s now played out. Effective or not, it is now the time for citizens to learn the intricate machinations of politics and prove they are capable to living a collective life while honouring individual pursuits.Election 2015 could be that time in our rich history when we permitted bad politics to fully undermine the common goals of a good people. We run the danger of turning E Pluribus Unum (out of the many, one) into its opposite – Ex Uno Plures (out of the one, many).Canada has been a vast nation held together by grit, compromise, and the belief we share the same destiny with one another. But it can be a confusing riddle to solve for politicians and citizens alike. Yet as our parents and grandparents proved, it is worth the effort and worthy of our greatest ideals.George Orwell wrote in his, Homage to Catalonia:

“There was much in it that I did not understand. In some ways I did not even like it, but I recognized it immediately as a state of affairs worth fighting for.”

The time has come to use this election to usurp divisive political practices with a compelling national vision that includes us all. This was once a dream our parents sacrificed for and it is time to make sure that their Long Consensus doesn’t become our lost cause in October.