Conference to tackle "crucial" issues - Broadbent

Looking at social democratic policies and tactics to bring more equality and accountability to Canadian politics
 

  MONTREAL: Former NDP leader Ed Broadbent and Canadian historian Desmond Morton were surprised to learn last January that they were hosting a conference.
  First discussed informally last fall, the conference now known as "The Future of Social Democracy" quickly developed so much momentum its hosts had no choice but to go ahead after rumours of it made the front page of the Globe and Mail.
  It began with a few phone calls to see who would be interested in "some kind of small-scale symposium" recalls Lynn Darroch, who works with Morton at the McGill Institute for the Study of Canada. "It got onto paper somehow," which led to the Globe article coming out December 15.
  They found themselves deluged with requests to attend, papers, criticisms of their as-yet-unplanned agenda, and a lot of encouragement. "When we came back from Christmas, we discovered we had a conference," says Darroch.

"Social democrats must respond to this public desire for more democracy" - Ed Broadbent

Crucial topics for discussion
  Broadbent says that, along with a small team of volunteers, he and Morton have put together an agenda of "crucial" topics for social democrats: political citizenship, social citizenship, and the role of a market economy. "The 16 people coming to speak as panellists all have something quite concrete to say on these themes about Canada from a social democratic perspective."
  He says the "great catch-all notion of globalization" has sparked political changes that make it necessary of social democrats to re-evaluate their positions.
  "There's an accurate perception among Canadians that our dependency on trade has grown. There is a sense of insecurity as a consequence of trade deals, leaving Canadians with less sense of control over their political destiny. There are real feelings that central governments are not really responsive to their needs, and some believe governments don't have the political capacity to be responsive even if they wanted to be."

"Proportional Representation should have been up for discussion a long time ago"

Right-wing populists have responded to public concerns about democracy
  This has resulted in "a kind of populist democratic push that Reform, much more so that than the Canadian Alliance, was sensitive to. "The demand for governments to be more accountable, transparent, and locally controlled is a very genuine democratic impulse that that the right in Canada has tied into. But the impulse itself is neither left-wing nor right-wing. It's small-D democratic."
  He says social democrats must respond to this public desire for more democracy " with policy initiatives to make the parliamentary system more accountable and more accurately representational. That's why parliamentary reform and proportional representation are on the agenda for discussion. They should have been a long time ago."
  The discussion over political citizenship should provoke controversy. Should corporations and unions continue to have a collective economic impact on political decision-making as in the past? "If we really want the electoral system to recognize the equal rights of all citizens to shape election outcomes," says Broadbent, "we should be looking at ways to reduce both corporate power and, for related reasons, the influence of unions."

"The mythology that we need less equity to compete globally is intellectual hogwash"

Debunking hogwash
  The conference will look at how income inequality has grown in Canada during the 1990s. And it will propose alternatives, such as those adopted by several European nations. "One of the points of the conference is to show there need not be a choice between prosperity and social citizenship... The mythology we're fed that we need less equity to be competitive is intellectual hogwash."
  Another conference theme is the relationship between civil society, political parties, and grass roots activism. Broadbent says that extra-parliamentary activists have always played a strong role in shaping democratic politics. "I was struck last week reading about origin of the United Nations in 1945. The reasons there are references in the UN charter to human rights is due virtually entirely to lobbying by civil society activists at the UN's founding conference in San Francisco - peace activists, trade unions, and church groups."
  Throughout his period as NDP leader, most activist groups would channel naturally into party politics. Now, though, he says many have become sceptical of the political process. "The challenge is to show people the social democratic party has the same concerns and has some answers and to show that activism in the streets is not sufficient. It's very important, but the problems of globalization were in good measure created by governments and now require governments to correct them. The raison d'etre of social democratic parties is to become governments or to force debate in government to move toward greater equality.

Activism and social democrats
  "People have to be persuaded. A lot of people who are involved in the debate over globalization don't see electoral politics as part of the solution. Of course it is. If that rhetoric wins the day, the political right will be delighted."
  Conference organizers have made an "absolutely determined effort" to make it highly representative in terms of age, gender, and regions of the country represented. As part of that effort, the conference has arranged for the on-line publication Straight Goods to post and promote on-line discussion and surveys concerning the conference, its papers, and the debates that arise from it. The Social Democracy Forum will be posted at straightgoods.com/SocDem.
  Readers can log on, read an index of conference papers and journalistic coverage, participate in forums on specific topics, and take part in on-line surveys.
  Organizers expect to have money available to subsidize people from travelling from outside central Canada. Attendance is limited to 200 to accommodate the McGill Moot Court, an amphitheatre ideal for the kind of exchange Broadbent envisions. "We want to have a discussion, not a convention."

Posted: May 07, 2001

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