It’s time for new politics

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 08/06/2023 (1091 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

NOW that we are well into a provincial election year, predictably the Conservatives are very loudly promising new spending and new solutions for problems they created or tolerated, and the NDP are silent, hoping to obtain power as a result of voter dissatisfaction with the party in office.

This story has been repeated in Manitoba in the last five elections between 2003 and 2019. Voters have been presented with solutions at opposite ends of the political spectrum.

The Liberals in the middle have not been a factor.

After many conversations with voters in Fort Whyte who have asked me for the “Liberal solution,” I have concluded that there is none.

There is no place for Liberals on the teeter-totter of Manitoba politics. The solution is neither at the ends of the political spectrum, nor is it in the middle. That is because the problems we face are not left-wing or right-wing. Our problems will not be solved by more spending or cutbacks.

In my view we must work together to solve our problems in healthcare, education, poverty, and urban decay.

Going to the hospital must not be an adventure in waiting for help in an underserviced triage system.

Schools will continue to be mismanaged if we must choose between teachers, parents and children.

Poverty will not be reduced if the basics of food, shelter, and other necessities are dealt with in separate compartments and are underfunded in a totally fragmented non-system.

The city of Winnipeg’s downtown has not been “saved” by North Portage, or an arena, or a larger police service, while everyone who can heads for the suburbs, leaving the core to decay.

The present PC government once again deals with a mandate with three years of underfunding and one year of giveaways.

The opposition NDP when in power had a history of overpromising and incompetence.

Here is my approach.

We live in a digital age.

All of us have access to information.

We can and should be able to organize citizen participation and involvement in dealing with our problems. We cannot leave solutions to 57 individuals whose skill set is seeking power and holding office.

New digital platforms can and must be created so that all voices are heard, all approaches are assessed, and all opinions can be debated.

Digital platforms are not just for teenagers; politics should be a process which we all participate in — not just 57 elected legislators whose interests are too often selfish,narrow, and self-serving.

When all of us have input into, and impact on, legislation, better government will result.

When a bill is presented in the legislature every one of us can have a say and make a contribution. When solutions are advocated, all of us can respond in what would be a truly open and democratic; we can all be community activists.

Politics can be changed from a backroom activity. In a digital age, debate on proposed legislation can include tweeting, and Facebooking, etc. so that we all participate.

This is what it means to be a Liberal in the 21^st century. Liberalism historically meant freedom of speech, of religion, of the press, and due process under the law, but over the last long while has degenerated into being a place on the political spectrum between conservatives and socialists-somewhere between Right and Left.

Liberalism has always been, and should be now, the individualism of the digital age. Politics can be organized so that everyone can participate.

Every voter should be challenged to participate.

The key to understanding this proposal is recognizing that we want to achieve equity in our politics not equality. Equity is the true definition of liberalism and has been so since political participation opened up to everyone.

Equity is the counterpart of openness. Equity does not mean equality in the end result. Rather it means equality of opportunity to participate in the process so we might obtain a result which we can all respect.

Willard Reaves is the Liberal candidate for Fort Whyte in the upcoming provincial election.