That said, there is some good news in this story.
The first is that, despite the requirements of their respective political parties, the MPs told us that they accomplished good work in Parliament. They described finding the latitude to champion causes they cared about. Often these were constituent matters they brought to greater national attention. From post-secondary education to agricultural policy, this report has highlighted several, and there are many more.
For example, a constituent concern made one MP realize that his community would benefit if foreign students studying at the local university were allowed to work off-campus, an initiative that was, through a change in the law, expanded nationally. Another MP first elected as a 29 year old backbencher in the 1960s, a few years after the publication of Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring, created the first Parliamentary environment committee and brought a national focus to these issues for the first time. A third, who came to Parliament from a riding with several federal prisons, became an advocate for
victims’ rights and developed legislation for more effective approaches to incarceration.
For an enterprising, energetic person, politics seems like a way to make a difference.
Furthermore, since so many of the difficulties the MPs described were the direct result of political parties’ management approaches, and since management approaches can evolve, improving this situation is actually possible.
While there are structural, legal and financial issues that affect how a party operates that should be discussed, they do not preclude parties from starting to make necessary changes to their internal management approaches.
Like all cultural change it won’t be easy and will require time, energy, and above all, the will to change. However, once problems are identified, small, incremental changes in parties’ incentive structures can be made that will contribute to a more open, engaging political culture. With time, removing obstacles to how MPs do their jobs should also remove obstacles to citizen engagement.