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Working with Democracy
Indivisibility of Human Dignity,
Multi-party Democracy and Rule of Law
David Kilgour
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Speaking at Queens University Model Parliament programme,
veteran Canadian Parliamentarian, David Kilgour dwells in detail
on human dignity, the rule of law and multiparty democracy.
Narrating his personal experiences, he proclaims that though the
systems are imperfect, the world has no choice but to work with
representative democracy. |
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 Democrats
everywhere know that our varied systems are imperfect. Indeed, the
chamber in which we sit appears to be currently discredited in the
minds of many Canadians, primarily I think for its lack of civility.
Voter turnout in last year's national election was only 59%, the
lowest in history, and is one indicator of a serious problem.
Taking a global
view, however, we realize how precious is the democracy which,
Canadians often take for granted. Four years ago, 80% of Afghans
risked their lives to vote in their presidential election. One of
them was Dr. Sima Samar, who, after having lived as a refugee for a
decade outside her country, became Deputy President in the Afghan
Transition Team. Later forced to resign after questioning some
religious laws and receiving death threats, Dr. Samar continues to
fight for democracy as the chair of the Afghan Independent Human
Rights Commission and UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of
human rights in
Sudan.
 Another heroic
Asian democrat is Aung San Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace laureate, who has
spent most of 18 years under house arrest in
Burma. She and
her National League for Democracy (NLD) won about two-thirds of the
votes cast in the 1990 election. The generals allowed none of the
elected to take their seats. The UN Special rapporteur on
Burma
confirmed as a "state-instigated massacre" the attack on her
peaceful procession in 2003, northwest of
Mandalay,
when about 100 people were killed; Suu Kyi was herself wounded.
Earlier this month, a court in
Mandalay
reportedly sentenced Bo Min Yu Ko, in his early 20s and a member of
the All Burma Federation of Student Unions, to a total of 104 years
in prison.
Democratic
Spirit
What is the
source of the democratic spirit that motivates such bravery?
Commenting on his own country's new-found freedom, President-elect
Vaclav Havel—no stranger himself to prison cells and today
recovering from surgery in a
Prague
hospital-- once asked: "From where did [Czechoslovakia's]
young people . . . take their desire for truth, their love of free
thought, their political ideas, their civic courage and civic
prudence?" Does the answer not lie in the human desire everywhere to
choose the types of societies we want to build for ourselves: ones
grounded on values of human dignity for all and the rule of law?
Central to the
functioning of Canadian democracy is the body we are here to explore
– Parliament. Compared to many such institutions around the world,
it functions quite well and, yet, there is a sense that it does not
measure up to the high standards Canadians hold. Why is this so? The
answer is to be found both in our own history and in the example of
those nations where the current struggle for democracy throws its
principles into bright relief.
 Representational
role of MPs
Permit me to ask
those of you who would consider becoming MPs to raise your hands?
(5-10% of the approx.300 students present raised them.) That's
discouraging because I found being an MP for almost 27 years to be
most fulfilling. To do a proper job in my opinion, members should
respect a number of principles. Some of my own are explained on my
website (www.david-kilgour.com) under the heading "Rule of
Law/Democracy", but I'll list some here:
1) Represent
constituents without fear or favour.
2) Never
give in if you believe the cause is just.
3) An MP is
an advocate of last resort for constituents and his/her office is
not a branch of any government department.
4) Find and
support really good staff.
5) Keep your
sense of humour close at hand.
6) MPs, not
party whips, are the best judges of voter opinion, and therefore
issues concerning voters, in their ridings.
Let me add a
word about this last one. It is the electors of your riding who send
you to
Ottawa.
Never forget it. In the case of the GST bill, for example, about
7500 constituents indicated to me in various ways their opposition
to the proposed new tax. As a one-time tax lawyer, I was then (1990)
personally convinced that it was not an efficient way to raise tax
revenues. In the end, Dr. Alex Kindy and I voted against it and were
immediately expelled by Brian Mulroney from the Conservative caucus.
Fifteen years later, I resigned from Paul Martin's Liberal caucus
primarily over the government's inaction on the sponsorship scandal.
In short, don't abandon your principles and your voters even if it
means leaving a political party-or two
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Central
to the functioning of Canadian democracy is the body we are here
to explore – Parliament. Compared to many such institutions
around the world, it functions quite well and, yet, there is a
sense that it does not measure up to the high standards
Canadians hold. Why is this so? The answer is to be found both
in our own history and in the example of those nations where the
current struggle for democracy throws its principles into bright
relief. |
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Threats
Democracies are
vulnerable. The greatest threats today usually come, not from the
barrels of guns, but from the combined effects of poverty, apathy,
and economic insecurity, which often result from the absence of
equal justice and opportunity for all. During a good deal of the
twentieth century, the democracy label was claimed by almost any
regime, including the most despotic. In fact, democracies do not
practise oppression, segregation, terror and murder by party-states.
They thrive on diversity, inclusiveness, differences and respect for
everyone by upholding the rule of law on the basis of citizen
equality.
Democracy
subordinates governments to their citizens; voters own their
government, not vice versa. Democracy implies freedom of speech,
association, assembly and religion - essentially the freedom for
individuals to express who they are and what they believe as long as
they do not infringe on the freedom of others. We must seek to
enshrine freedoms and responsibilities in constitutions, laws and
cultures.
Rule of Law
Fundamental to
any healthy democracy is an independent judiciary. There can be no
liberty if the judiciary is not separated from the legislative and
executive branches of government. The tyranny of legislatures is
sometimes the most potent impediment to the proper functioning of
constitutional democracy. In
Canada we think
that an independent judiciary, with real power to strike down
unconstitutional acts passed by legislators, is a necessary
safeguard.
Elsewhere, in
some countries, Judges are dismissed if they do not give judgments
acceptable to their governments; more obsequious replacements are
soon found (e.g. Robert Mugabe's
Zimbabwe).
Threats of violence can persuade some judges to act in accordance
with the will of a dictator. There can be no impartiality when
judges must choose between their own safety and the rights of
another individual or a group. This is an extreme example, but more
subtle means are deployed by regimes under the guise of a rule of
law democracy.
Striking a
balance between majority rule and protection of individual and
minority rights is an enduring challenge to every democracy. John
Locke expressed the notion of inalienable rights--those so
fundamental to the well being of individuals that a state should
have limited rights to infringe upon them. In modern times,
inalienable rights have become fundamental rights. Virtually any
independent newspaper today contains stories of individuals and
groups whose rights are being infringed. Reliance on a vigorous
judiciary makes it possible for minorities and marginalized groups
to live equally as full members of society.
Multi-party
democracy across the world
Self government
through fair elections is an aspiration shared by probably most if
not all all peoples in the world; impressive progress has been made
in recent decades. In late 2003, representatives from 120 nations,
including 73 parliamentarians and about 200 leaders from NGOs, met
in parallel meetings in
Ulaanbaatar,
Mongolia. We were reminded there that representative democracies in
myriad forms were that year more prevalent than ever before in
history-with an estimated 130 democracies functioning among about
200 sovereign countries-compared with less than about sixty as
recently as the 1970s. In a message to the conference, then UN
Secretary General Kofi Annan stressed his own personal commitment to
democracy and the rule of law.
There was
general agreement among delegates that unemployment, poverty and bad
governance were among the factors weakening democracy. One delegate
drew a direct link between terrorism and unequal opportunities for
the poor across the world. There was full agreement that democratic
governments in competing with terrorists for hearts and minds around
the world should not retreat at all from the best practices of
dignity-for-all societies.
Civil Society
A report from
the civil society forum noted the importance of involving often
institutionally excluded women, children and other communities more
effectively in democratic governance. Another point made was that
the threat of terrorism must not be used by governments as an excuse
to to stifle civil society. I presume that no delegate doubted what
terrorists would do to civil society everywhere if they could.
The discussions
among parliamentarians were reported upon by the Speaker of the
Namibian parliament. Their recommendations were blunt:1- legislators
must play a vigorous role in overseeing the executive branch;
2-women and minorities must be encouraged to play larger roles in
parliaments; 3-free and independent media are essential to providing
substantive information to voters; 4- racial and religious profiling
is in practice counter-productive in resisting terror; 5-there
should be better links between parliaments and respective national
civil societies; 6-parliamentarians should help formulate democratic
indicators.
Africa
Democracy has
now swept through much of
Africa. By 2000,
32 out of 54 heads of state had been chosen on the continent in
elections against rivals backed by opposition parties. In 1975, only
three heads of state were chosen that way. Over the past decade,
more political parties have been founded in Africa than at any time
since decolonization; democracy has taken root in many countries.
One lesson from
Africa
is that economic renewal and democratization best go hand in hand.
Botswana
and Mauritius have experienced the highest long-term growth rates,
while also enjoying the longest period of democratic governance.
Positive growth has returned to Benin, Ghana, Mozambique and South
Africa, where the resurgence of democracy has been strong. Those
having the most difficulties during the 1990s were not cases of
failed democratization but failed governance. Another encouraging
development for democracy in
Africa
is the resurgence of civil society, which has been at the forefront
of the struggles to dislodge authoritarian regimes. It is in states
everywhere where civil society and independent media are weak that
the greatest challenges to genuine electoral competition and
accountability exist.
Americas
The
Americas have
also seen a democratic revolution, a far cry from about 25 years ago
when there were only four democratic governments in
South America.
The promotion of democracy was a fundamental consideration when
Canada
joined the OAS and has been an ongoing goal in our relations with
member states. The OAS was the first international organization to
promote democracy expressly. Canada focused on developing the
capacity of the organization to promote democratic development. We
have also sought to strengthen institutions that support political
and human rights.
The Protocol of
Washington allowed for the de facto suspension from the OAS of a
country whose democratically-elected government has been overthrown
by force. Member states also adopted a resolution establishing a
Special Fund for Strengthening Democracy to be used to respond to
requests from member states. The OAS governments agree to "take
ownership" of democracy and governance issues in the
Summit of the
Americas process.
Commonwealth
Much of
Canada's efforts
to support the rule of law and democracy globally have been through
the Commonwealth. Common values and traditions were reflected in the
Harare Declaration of 1991, in which member governments pledged
their commitment to the protection and promotion of the fundamental
political values of the Commonwealth. In order to be a member in
good standing of the Commonwealth, a country must now have a
civilian, democratically elected government. Unfortunately, the
Mugabe regime, which has withdrawn from the Commonwealth, clings to
office in the very capital where the Harare principles emerged.
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Democracy, in numerous forms, works hand-in-hand with the spread
of the rule of law and the enhancement of human dignity.
International institutions, including the United Nations, should
accord incrementally more weight in future to human rights, the
rule of law, and democracy. Our challenge as members of
democratic societies is to safeguard democratic practice in
Canada and help to strengthen democracies abroad, remembering
always that it begins with each and every one of us as
individual citizens.
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Europe
The Organization
for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) stresses enhancing
democracy from "Vancouver
to Vladivostok." It does this through monitoring democratic
processes among its participating states and through most of its 20
field missions. The OSCE also has a specialized agency devoted to
democratization pursuits: the Office for Democratic Institutions and
Human Rights (ODIHR). The ODIHR is active in monitoring elections
and developing national electoral and human rights institutions,
providing technical assistance to national legal institutions, and
promoting the development of NGOs and civil society.
Francophonie
Canada has
worked with La Francophonie to support democracy. It has undertaken
several informal political initiatives to support democracy in
countries at risk. In practical terms, the work of La Francophonie
has focused on electoral observation missions, technical assistance
in areas related to institutional development and "good offices"
missions mounted by the Secretary General to assist in political
crises.
Canadian
Multilateralism and Democracy
What have
Canadians learned from experiences around the world?
First, that
there is no single best response on addressing threats to multiparty
democracy and the rule of law. In the Commonwealth and the
Americas,
the Ministers' Action Group (CMAG) and the OAS have respectively
worked well. Engaging global partners in democracy through
multilateral institutions has been Canada's preferred approach.
Second, each
threat to democracy should be addressed in context. The best
approach is often one we might call accompaniment, i.e., to be
supportive of local initiatives and ideas on how to strengthen
democracy and send a message that external actors are there to
support, and not to force change. Local actors should take the lead
in resolving their own challenges.
Third,
Canada's
experience shows that while in some cases threats to democracy can
be resolved quickly, most of the time rule of law friends must be
patient. As external supporters, we need to be ready to listen,
enter into dialogue, and provide technical advice and assistance
where needed, and be willing to do so over an extended period.
Finally, we must
keep our actions in line with the promotion of human rights.
Otherwise, we will not have democracy and we will have betrayed the
people we are trying to help. While threats to democracy may seem
great, we must never let them overwhelm us. As I stated earlier, the
strength of democracy is in the struggle. It is a struggle to build
the conditions in which democracy can flourish and it is a
continuing effort to maintain it where it is strong.
Conclusion
Representative
democracy is indispensable for a peaceful and prosperous world, with
equality for all members of the human family. As we experience a
serious economic crisis today, you might agree with me that our new
challenges are, to a great extent, the result of weakened
governance, i.e., compromises in oversight, financial regulation and
accountability that contravened basic responsibility principles in
any democracy. As a result, democracies around the world today face
both enormous new pressures and opportunities. The economic turmoil
tests our commitment to democratic principles and best practices as
well.
Democracy, in
numerous forms, works hand-in-hand with the spread of the rule of
law and the enhancement of human dignity. International
institutions, including the United Nations, should accord
incrementally more weight in future to human rights, the rule of
law, and democracy. Our challenge as members of democratic societies
is to safeguard democratic practice in
Canada and help
to strengthen democracies abroad; remembering always that it begins
with each and every one of us as individual citizens.
David Kilgour,
J. D. is a veteran Canadian parliamentarian who has been elected
seven times, the first time being in 1979 and is one of the two
longest-serving MPs. He represented the Edmonton-Beaumont
constituency. He is a die-hard human rights advocate author of a
book on the aftermath of genocide in Rwanda.
He may be contacted at dwkilgour@gmail.com.
21 January 2009
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