Beyond The Commons

Aaron Wherry covers all the goings-on in and around Parliament Hill. Follow Aaron on Twitter: @aaronwherry

Categories: Beyond The Commons, Capital Read

The state adrift

by Aaron Wherry on Friday, August 13, 2010 10:52am - 0 Comments

Alex Himelfarb considers the state of the Canadian state.

Erosion of the state through drift or design reduces choice and undermines freedom. Letting this happen in barely perceptible increments, without a real debate about the Canada we want and the role of the state, undermines democracy. Rather than sterile ideological debates about big government or small government, we should be turning our attention to making government work better as measured not just by GDP but by the well-being of all its citizens and the health of the commons. As Wolf says, the purpose and role of the state – that’s what our politics should be all about.

Tags: alex himelfarb, democracy, Government

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Cats

Wow! Only a hardcore former 'crat would describe the erosion of the state as something that reduces choice or undermines freedom.

Some of us believe that by eroding the state we are ENHANCING our freedom!

Pre-Trudeau Cats!

Emily

Well yes, but you also believe you're a cat.
Loraine Lamontagne

I gather you fully share Stephen Harper's vision of Canada, with the Canadian people requiring less government in future, and whether Canada ends up with one national government or two governments or ten governments being secondary to the freedom of Canadians?

tedbetts

Which to believe though: the pre-2006 Stephen Harper who said he believed in small government or the post-2006 Stephen Harper who has not only increased spending of the state, but increased the power and influence and dependence on the state more than anyone since Trudeau (the civil service has never been as big as it is now, infrastructure/stimulus spending, corporate welfare, brand new and expanded regional development agencies, increasing the budget and size of the Canadian Human Rights Commission, etc.

He is though on the record as saying he doesn't care if there is one or ten national governments!!!

Cats

LOL hey its Ted Betts!

Shorter Ted Betts:

Harper isn't really small government so vote for the big government Liberals instead !!

Cats laughs. Ted's failed logic.

Inkless

Dude. The cat thing is incredibly tired. Give it a freaking break.
Holly Stick

Seconded.
Anon 001

… and not funny either. Just wierd and silly.

Lord Kitchener's Own

It depends upon what one means by "eroding" though, doesn't it? I think you mean that a smaller state apparatus enhances freedom, but how's that been going for you? The Tories aren't "eroding" the state in terms of making it smaller – they're growing it to historic proportions. They're "eroding" the state by making it less rational and less effective. Conservatives talk a good game about a smaller government being an inherently better government, but it's all talk. What we inevitably end up with is even bigger government that does an even worse job.

tedbetts

And less accountable on every front and now, with the erosion of the quality of the census, taking the tools out of our hands that allow us to verify and keep the government accountable. It's government by fiat with the erosion of consultation and evidence-based policy making. That certainly erodes our freedom, especially when it is used by Harper to expand the state and criminalize more and more activity with harsher and harsher penalties.

amherstvw

"the well-being of all its citizens and the health of the commons"

A society is not just about "me and mine".
It is not about "you eat what you kill".
We don't need "a society" for that.
Our society evolved FROM all of that.

The economy is not the only measure of "how things are going".
Economists are not the only people who can or should assess our society.

There are many issues which we will need to address during the next 50 years, and the current government hasn't even scratched the surface.
Our time is valuable and they're just wasting it.
Our tax dollars are valuable and the government won't account for its spending practices.

tedbetts

The mantra here is peace, order and good government, afterall.
http://intensedebate.com/people/Ottawa_Centrist Ottawa_Centrist

Which reminds me of the non-semantic difference between citizens and clients…
Halo_Override

I'm having your post tattooed on my back, word for word.

Well, I mean, not really. But you get my point.

Wascally Wabbit

Cat lies on welfare state mat – licking the cream from any dish presented!
PolJunkie

Agree with everything said in that quote except for the "barely perceptible increments" part.

This whole "small increment" line has been used by several pundits and it gets on my last nerve. There is nothing "incremental" or "barely perceptible" about what Harper has been doing since in office. He's been dismantling our institutions in full view of Parliamentarians and the broader public in the most clumsy, bull-in-a-china-shop manner.

There was nothing incremental or "barely perceptible" about the first and second time he prorogued Parliament, the how-to-wreck-havoc-on-committees handbook, the intimidation of public servants who dare speak truth to power, the to-hell-with-human-rights-law attitude (int'l and domestic), the open defiance towards the house of commons and so much more…

Not only did Harper NOT do this incrementally or in barely perceptible ways, he all but DARED the Opposition, the media and us Canadians to stop him from doing it.

The State is what it is today because we let it happen. Make no mistake about that.

Cats

I'd say things like killing the court challenges program, defunding various women's programs, getting rid of aid advocacy groups.

Stuff like that isn't done through legislation and it rarely makes the news.

Small government cats!

wascally wabbit

The economy is not the only measure of "how things are going".
Economists are not the only people who can or should assess our society.
Well put amherstvw!
knick

There needs to be more of this kind of discussion, in terms that members of the general public like me can grasp, and there needs to be more media coverage of it. There's so much at stake right now that it would be a shame if we find ourselves down the road looking back and thinking, if we only knew then what we know now about what 'erosion of the state' means to our everyday lives. If people start thinking about what kind of Canada they want, they might just find themselves caring about politics enough to vote.