this post was submitted on 04 Sep 2023
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Because of democracy. Democracy requires people to work, and, quite frankly, we aren't willing to work. This happened because we let it. When was the last time the average Ontarian did anything to participate in that democracy? I expect the answer is never.
The closest thing we've seen to democratic action in years was the trucker rally in Ottawa, and that was, what, thousands of people at most? Where are the tens of millions of Ontarians hiding right now?
That's how it is allowed to happen. Who is going to uphold the democracy other than the democratic public? There certainly isn't some alien overload making sure we play by some kind of rules. It's just people.
Democracy also requires a sound set of laws to function. Our provincial leaders enjoy too much power and have too little accountability. Even if everyone were 100% dedicated to their civic duties, you can indeed fool "all of the people some of the time," and that is all it takes when the people are the first and last word in the protection of the democracy.
The provincial leaders are the population at large. They should have all the power. That's what a democracy entails.
The third rank employees hired by the MPPs/MLAs are who enjoy too much power. They don't have that power on paper, but because the leaders don't want to do anything but watch life unfold on TV, they can get away with it. When the technical leaders don't care to step in, who else is going to stop them?
That has nothing to do with democracy. You can democratically elect someone who only has power to open and close the front door. Those are your personal ideological values, not "democracy". You believe that our provincial leaders should be democratically elected AND that they should have unlimited power. I only believe one of those things. The highest power in any democracy needs to be the RULE OF LAW, not the whim of the leaders.
And in fact, the Province does not have absolute power. They have too much power, but their powers are indeed limited by the Federal government and other factors. Beyond that they are limited by the rule of law just like you and me. They can't walk down the street killing people. They don't and shouldn't have "all the power." All I require is that there should be legal consequences under the rule of law for negligence and outright malfeasance of elected leaders. It hardly hampers the capacity of the office.
You did not address the vulnerability I mentioned. So I assume you concede the point that a democracy with no accountability of leadership is dangerous, but you just don't care and propose that we simply live with that danger. No thanks.
I find your ideas half baked and I shouldn't expect to enjoy conversing further.
We do not elect leaders. We elect representatives to represent the leaders (us). It is true that those representatives then hire a leader of their choosing to keep things in line while in the legislature. Is that the leader you are thinking of? That person is a leader, but is not the leader of the province, and is most certainly not chosen by democratic election. It is considered to be an appointed position.