More Questions from a Cynical Public

The following is another excerpt from conversations I’ve had with voters during the public exhibits held by the Democracy Party.

Today’s topic?

Why start a new political party? Why don't you just take these great ideas to court and try to win them there?

Going to court to change our democratic system … okay …

Well, it may seem almost logical to try the "court route", given citizens' feelings of powerlessness against the system. Activists seem to be doing pretty well using the courts – some of those groups even get taxpayer funding to wage their battles.

One solution to deal with the feeling of helplessness between elections is more interventions, such as referendums, "between" elections.

There are also "propositions" on the ballot at voting time, as we saw recently in Ontario with its Electoral Reform referendum held at the same time as the regular provincial election.

In addition, to deal with promise-breaking politicians who think they are "getting away with one", we should be able to use M.P. recall to keep them more "grounded" between elections.

These initiatives are fundamental to Democracy Party of Canada thinking, and no other party in Canada is talking about them. We believe it’s the voters’ right, in elections, to demand laws for these things – we shouldn’t need courts for that.

Becoming another specialized lobby group was another option I considered. But I’ve decided that we would set ourselves apart if we were to 'take on the system' by 'using the system', instead of simply forming another pressure group or running off to the nearest court room.

If someone thinks they have good public policy ideas, those should be put before the public for them to democratically decide the fate of those ideas.

Oh, sure, I’ve already taken some heat for aiming to 'split the vote again' with a new political party. But the 40 percent of Canadians who didn't vote in the last election may have something to say about whether or not a new Party with gutsy democratic principles ought to take a "kick at the can".