Faithfully Yours - What we are is what we get
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- Published on Sunday, November 30, 2014
By Neil Strohschein
A few years ago, while working as a reporter for The Banner, I spent some time at the Manitoba Legislature in Winnipeg, interviewing regional MLAs for stories I was covering.
On one of these visits, I arrived to hear the “division bells” ringing in the building. They ring whenever MLAs are being called to their seats for an important vote. But on this day, they rang a lot. The Conservative opposition (lead at the time by Stuart Murray) wanted then Premier Gary Doer to call a public inquiry into the failure of the Crocus Investment Fund and the role (if any) of government officials in the fund’s collapse. Doer adamantly refused to call the inquiry.
In retaliation (or desperation, depending on who I spoke with that day), the Opposition parties decided to raise frivolous procedural motions. The Speaker ruled against them, his ruling was challenged and the bells began to ring. Forty-five minutes later, the Assembly voted to uphold the Speaker’s ruling and the whole process began again.
As I made my way home that afternoon, I thought of how wasteful that day had been. If some had asked me to suggest a fair wage for our MLAs, based on what I had seen on that day, I would have said: “Put them on minimum wage;” and that would have been generous.
Now don’t get me wrong here. I happened to agree with the point the Opposition was trying to make. If this had been the only time our elected representatives had acted this way, I would have let it pass. But it wasn’t. It happens every day, especially in Question Period. The questions are loaded. The answers are vague and persistent heckling makes the dialogue impossible to follow.
I have often wondered how rational, sane and highly qualified people can turn the hallowed halls of government into a circus tent and act like a bunch of clowns. Then it dawned on me. The MPs and MLAs we elect are just like us. When they get to Winnipeg or Ottawa, they act just like us.
Let me explain. The communities in which we live were built on the foundations of camaraderie and cooperation. We lived together and worked together. We built community facilities together. We worshipped and prayed together and when disaster hit a family in our community we came together to help them recover from their loss and rebuild their lives.
In today’s society, camaraderie and cooperation have been replaced with confrontation and conflict. When people do something we don’t like, we get in their faces and give them a piece of our mind, which more often than not, is a piece we can’t afford to lose. So we should not be surprised when our elected representatives do the same thing. They are just like us. They will act just like us. What we are is what we get.
Our legislators can make dozens of promises about how they plan to work together more. But it won’t be long before the heckling and bickering resumes and it will be back to business as usual.
If we want our legislators to act differently, we have to set the example for them. We have to put an end to the confrontation and conflict that dominates so much of life in some communities. We need to follow the advice given in Scripture—Be at peace among yourselves and live in peace with all people. Only then can we demand that our elected representatives do the same.
