Leadership is overrated

Oct 03, 2007

Why don’t governments ever listen to the people?

The short answer is probably that we don’t want governments that listen to people. Or rather, we demand that they listen, but at the same time demand that they show leadership. Leadership is a complicated thing to define, but judging from some of the response to John Tory’s revised position on religious school funding, it means a leader must never bow to popular opinion.

Is this just a little bit crazy?

Consider this. Tory announces a plan to extend funding to private religious schools. This is not necessarily a bad idea. It’s certainly worth debating. But to make it an election promise is either really gutsy or really foolish.

It’s lead balloon time. Knees begin to jerk, opponents begin to make political hay and far too much attention is focused on this one issue.

People say they don’t want it. Conservative MPPs and candidates obviously have second thoughts. The idea probably would have been dropped long before now except for one thing. A leader must never admit to being wrong, even when most people think he is.

And the response seems to back that up. Tory has done what people demanded, and it’s being called a flip-flop, bowing to pressure, not sticking to his guns. He’s lost the moral high ground.

Why is this?

Granted, much of it is opponents making political hay. But there is clearly a perception of weakness.

The sad part is that rather than returning attention to the many other important issues in this election, this move has only served to make matters worse.

It’s really just a symptom of the real problem with elections today. It’s all about the leaders. We’re not electing a local representative, we’re electing a premier by proxy. At least, that’s the way it looks. The personal contact of a local candidate is taking back seat to the mass marketing of one charismatic figure — and the mass maligning of the others.

Why are we so concerned about leaders? Election campaigns have degenerated to the point that they have become little more than sniping matches between party leaders. If one believed all the press releases, both Tory and McGuinty are screwing up royally at least six times a day. All of the parties are spinning everything positively and negatively, throwing out tons of carefully selected information, and even being deliberately misleading. That’s what we’ve come to, openly tricking the voters.

Was there ever a time when politicians set out an honest platform based on what they really believed was best, and simply let the people choose what they wanted? Maybe not, but there surely wasn’t always this much smoke and
mirrors.

And why has the party and its leadership so eclipsed the local candidates? Perhaps the reason why ‘First Past the Post’ isn’t working properly is because people vote as though it were a proportional system, electing a party rather than a local representative.

Ultimately, the work is done by a lot more people than the Premier, and we need to look beyond the face each party chooses to stand behind and actually examine what they are promising to do with an unbiased eye, without letting them put words in each other’s mouths. We must think less about leaders, and become more familiar with our local candidates and what they, personally, want to do.

The fact is, leadership is overrated. We need people who can do a job the way we want it done. Sometimes that is going to mean making decisions that won’t be popular, but it should never preclude having second thoughts. What we have created is an environment in which the standard practice is for political parties to do whatever it takes to get elected, then do whatever they want once they are.

It’s something to consider the next time government at any level seems to be plowing ahead without regard for popular opinion. If they did as you ask, would you respect them in the morning?

Maybe you’re getting exactly what you asked for.