Grit, Tory grassroots ready to rumble

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 23/05/2016 (3452 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

This upcoming week, Canada’s political grassroots will be on display for all to see. And – if advance media reports are any indication – they’ll be madder than hell.

In what amounts to a rare coincidence, both the federal Liberal party and the federal Conservative party are holding important national conventions from May 26 to 28. At both events, there are signs the so-called grassroots of the parties are ready to rumble with what are alleged to be power-hungry, unaccountable leaders and executives.

But first, the gatherings themselves.

The Liberals, in case you hadn’t heard, are descending on Winnipeg this week for a biennial policy convention, the first such gathering since Trudeaumania 2.0 swept the nation and the Grits back into power.

If you’re a local Liberal, this event will be reason for celebration, a chance to celebrate the factyour party snatched seven of eight Winnipeg seats. If you’re a local New Democrat or a Conservative, it might be your cue to strap on your CSA-approved helmet and athletic protector, given that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau last week demonstrated an affinity for what we might call “clutch-and-grab” politics.

Meanwhile, out in Vancouver, the Conservatives are gathering for their own exercise in self-examination and renewal. Unlike the Liberals, the Tories are facing a crisis of identity. The party knows it must shed the Stephen Harper brand but has little idea of who should lead it or what it should stand for in the future.

What we’re left with is two different cities hosting national meetings of two different parties with radically different prospects. Despite that, both parties will have one challenge in common: soothing the savage grassroots.

News reports in advance of both meetings have given a platform to aggrieved “grassroots” members who have accused their parties of losing touch with the rank and file.

In the Conservative party, a significant number of Electoral District Associations (EDAs) are looking for greater oversight at the highest decision-making levels of the party. Much of this is the result of the harsh and highly centralized power structure forged by the aforementioned Harper.

The results, the frustrated EDA representatives will argue, were policy tacks and election strategies that flouted logic and common sense. It’s hard to argue with that theory looking back at some of the decisions Harper made in his last year as prime minister: taking wounded veterans to court to squabble over benefits; daring Sen. Mike Duffy to defend himself against fraud charges in court; the overuse of identity politics; and Harper’s decision to hold a 78-day campaign in a foolish bid for the Conservatives to outspend their opponents to win the election.

It is hardly surprising that more and more Tories are galvanizing around a plan to beef up the mechanisms to stop horror shows like that from happening in the future. The fate of their proposals will make the Vancouver convention a fascinating event.

Even though the “grassroots” of both parties are garnering all the attention right now, it is important to remember the true influence of rank-and-file party members can be easily inflated and taken out of context. The term “grassroots” suggests a group all about accountability and pure democracy. The ugly reality is that, in many respects, the grassroots can be strangers to both concepts.

In an age of declining participation in partisan political organizations, it is hard to argue that the “grassroots” of any party can speak to the interests of broader society. That is partly why special interests thrive in the ranks of the grassroots.

Angry, maladjusted and even hateful constituencies within parties may not be able to win an argument with an entire country, but they often can get their way within the much smaller ranks of one political party.

It is also true that the grassroots members are much happier and compliant when their parties are winning; when they are losing, it often seems that nothing the leadership and executive can say or do is accountable. Funny how that works.

The myth of the noble, selfless grassroots can often find an ally in the news media, which frequently amplify their concerns and exaggerate their influence.

Case in point: a Hill Times article widely publicized over the weekend predicted mayhem at the Liberal convention in Winnipeg as angry grassroots members prepare to rise up and smite Grit elites for proposed changes to the party constitution.

The changes include creating a single constitution for the Liberal party and its broad array of wings and EDAs, and a proposal for free memberships. Failure to withdraw the proposed constitutional changes, the Hill Times reported, would result in the “most divisive convention in years.”

Great hook, as we say in the journalism business. Except that the story hung on the concerns of a single EDA president who, the story ultimately revealed, is not supported by his own MP. Other EDA officials from other areas of the country also dismissed these concerns and predicted with reasonable certainty that any attempt to derail the constitutional changes would likely fail.

The issues raised by the dissident EDA president are legitimate, although his interpretation of the agenda behind the constitutional changes seems largely unfounded.

Participation in a political party is, despite the declining numbers, a noble pursuit. Certainly, no country is well served by political parties without broad, diverse memberships that can inform leadership on the impacts of policies and practices. However, the grassroots is also an unruly, unpredictable and largely unaccountable entity unto itself.

Some will argue that the grassroots of a political party is compelling because it is a pure example of democracy in action. In reality, we love the grassroots because it is the best proof that politics is a messy expression of human nature.

dan.lett@freepress.mb.ca