Skip to content

Editorial: Another chance for change lost

Old boys clubs endure
13860605_web1_pwn-T-editorial-660

There was just so much wrong with Brett Kavanaugh’s appointment to the U.S. Supreme Court Saturday.

There are, of course, the allegations of sexual misconduct. And his outburst during questioning, including paranoid conspiracy theories and a display of political partisanship, made his ability to make impartial judgments suspect.

But overall, the most troubling aspect of this whole process — not to dismiss the testimony of Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, who we feel is credible — is the arrogance displayed by those in power and their disregard for the people they are supposed to be there to serve.

Honestly, do they really think people are that stupid? Do they believe people won’t see through that dog and pony show, including the ludicrously short FBI investigation? Nope, the old boys club only cares about the old boys and keeping power. As an old saying goes, the purpose of power is power… not good governance.

It would be nice to say we have a better system in Canada, but truth to tell, we don’t. Politicians on both sides of the border show the same tendency to first make decisions that favour their supporters and keep themselves in office. The greater and long-term good of the nation comes second.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau famously promised — and then broke that promise — that the 2016 election would be the last done under the first-past-the-post voting, a system that famously allows parties to take leadership with less than 50 per cent of the country supporting them.

We may have a chance to change that with the B.C. referendum on proportional representation. It will be interesting, though, to see how long it takes to bring about change, even if the vote goes in favour of modernizing our political process.