Finally, A Time For Politics

The low voter turnout of the last election, coupled with the subsequent polling showing that the sheer negativity of the campaign turned citizens off, could lead one to believe that politics is at an all-time low in this country.  That's a sentiment I agree with and face every day, firsthand. For two years we have witnessed a minimalist government that makes mini-interventions when it politically helps them but otherwise continues to work away at eroding the public's trust of government by refusing to tackle the significant challenges facing this generation - environment, economic decline, growing gap between rich and poor, eroded healthcare services, etc.But things are changing, and fast.  Despite the Prime Minister's long-held desire of reducing the importance of the federal government, he's having to learn quickly that life is more powerful than any grand design. Where he once said that climate change was a fairy tale, he now has to take the subject more seriously because of the imposing problems surrounded the tar sands.  Now he's talking about working out an environmental deal with president-elect Obama. It was only a month ago, during the election, that he encouraged people to "stay the course" during the present financial meltdown and that the country's economic strengths meant we didn't have to spend or go into deficit. Just today he has come out of the G-20 summit declaring that we might have to run a deficit for a time and invest in key industries if we hope to come out the other end with enough to build a future on.There are other examples, but the lesson of these two issues is clear: politics matters, perhaps more than anything else right now. And the current Prime Minister is moving closer to the centre - a place of necessary government investment in the life of Canadians. He doesn't admit it publicly, but it's the only thing he can do if he wishes to hold on to power.  And the opposition parties? They are slowly coming to the realization that a spirit of cooperation with the PM is essential for the moment because the forces that threaten to drag us down are, in effect, more  powerful than the deteriorating effects of partisan politics.We are learning again that politics matters in people's lives and that a Canadian government functions best when it has a necessary and positive approach to the national life. If this last election taught us that no party really won and no leader came out of the conflict with any sense of visionary mandate, then clearly the way ahead must be something different the divisive path we have most recently trod. And it's time we all learned that power in government isn't about a majority but a kind of national political "meaning" that prompts us to reach across the aisle to achieve accomplishments that are far too great for any individual party.So, let's see if our national leadership in all parties learned that lesson. In times of travail, politics isn't about arranging power as it is alleviating threats and pain, facing up to challenges and embracing opportunity. As former American Justice Louis Brandeis stated, the highest office in any democracy is not that of the leader but that of citizen. Now is the time, more than any other of the last three decades, to prove if that is indeed true.