“Something is rotten in the state of Denmark.”
This famous and oft overlooked quote from Hamlet was referring to an intoxicated society that was ignorant to the political plight besieging that kingdom, which that story’s protagonist lamented upon. And maybe this is an apt quote if one wishes to apply it to Canada today.
Our media have been having a field day, dining on the suppurating Senate scandal like a maggot. And the opposition parties continue to pick at it, refusing to let this festering sore heal as they all look to benefit from it. The Conservatives want to lay the blame at the feet of Mike Duffy and Nigel Wright, hoping that these two will serve as ample sacrifice to some unknown deity, while the others look to lay the blame upon the prime minister, whose office seems more central to this issue.
Like a Shakespearean tragedy, there seems to have been many actors having played their part in this ongoing spectacle (not to mention a few asses, as in his comedies). But the focus always seems to be around people as if it was only because of these named individuals’ imperfections that we have this soap opera.
Humans are flawed, and thus whatever humans create will too have deficiencies. Such is the case with these various institutions. All of these named characters played their parts, each carrying some blame, but not one sees their actions as wrong. Why? Because they each saw themself working for a higher, better cause – those very institutions at the heart of our Canadian democracy.
So, maybe it is those very institutions we should be scrutinizing, looking to remedy if we are going to cure what ails our political system. Maybe it is time that we look at how the Senate, the political parties, and the Prime Minister’s Office have all undermined our cherished democracy here in Canada.
All of these institutions operate under the guise of constitutional conventions. This means that there is nothing actually written down in a legal document, a constitution, as to how or why they exist. Instead, they operate as they do out of a sense of tradition, of habit.
The Senate is a political body in our constitution, designed to emulate the House of Lords, reflecting the economic interests of society, but it was convention that allowed the prime minister to appoint someone to this office. Political parties are not mentioned in our constitution, so it is only by convention that this is how our system has evolved to deal with our democracy.
And finally, the title of prime minister does not exist in our Constitution, as we were not initially intended to become a sovereign state. Again, this last point shows that the power of this office, extended it seems, to those persons hired to advise this first minister, are usurped through conventions, but technically not supported by the Constitution.
It is this lack of definitive order, an absence of constitutional legitimacy, that has allowed our country to become infected with a malaise that undermines our democracy. Amputating them, like they were gangrenous limbs, however, is probably not the best solution, as these institutions have a positive function.
But it is obvious that something is rotten within Canada, fuelled by unchecked power, and if we do not address this fact, we are going to continue to suffer. It is time we define how we, the people, want our Canadian democracy to be, because only then will we be in a strong and healthy state.
John Kennair is an international consultant and doctor of laws who lives in St. Albert.
