Higher-ups donât always have our best interests at heart
By Cazzy Lewchuk, Opinions Editor
Everywhere, in every nation, people complain about their governments. No matter how popular the government is, there will still be a large percentage of the population who disagrees with their actions and platforms. Itâs because all governments break promises, gain bias towards special interests, and do not excel at the jobs they are appointed to do.
Governments at all levels fail to meet their goals, and they break their promises all the time. Trudeauâs government gained victory through promises of better transparency and of trust. Many were upset with the recent announcement that electoral reform would not be on the agenda, despite it being a core promise of the election campaign. Trudeauâs betrayal came only a couple months after greenlighting the Kinder Morgan and Enbridge Northern Gateway pipelines, further disappointing his voters.
While I felt just as lied to as many others at the decisions, it wasnât surprising. You simply canât please everyone in a multi-party nation, and you will absolutely âsell outâ to special interest groups and powerful figures in the economy.
Governments have to make tough decisions, and unfortunately those decisions can harm and anger a large amount of the population. Trudeauâs government is about helping the middle class, and that comes at the expense of the working class due to his government making deals with the upper class in the hopes of fueling the middle.
Promises turn into compromises, which in turn become broken promises. This happens in every party at every level. Politics and power change operations, some are just less corrupt than others.
The last line in The Whoâs classic anthem âWonât Get Fooled Againâ states âMeet the new boss⌠Same as the old boss.â It rings true for governments all around the world; just because a different person or party has taken power doesnât mean they wonât fall to the same mistakes.
I believe genuine social change and equality occurs when we question politics, as well as when we reduce partisan values. So much of politics involves electing a first-past-the-post government for a few years, then watching an opposing government undo their actions a few years later. The majority of Canadians support a system that limits power for a single party and instead encourages opposing parties to work together to help all citizens. Sadly, Canada doesnât have a Bernie Sanders figure to lead us, nor do we have an alternative to first-past-the-post coming our way anytime soon.
I donât think that full suspicion and distrust of every single government official is the right way to go. Taking on the establishment and attacking the merit of the previous government was a major influence in Trumpâs campaign and ultimate victory. Itâs not about hating the government; itâs about critically analyzing, debating, and questioning the governmentâs decisions.
We need to hold politicians to a high standard if they are going to be the ones representing our community.
