Letter: When did an election become a referendum?

“Referendum: A vote in which all the people in a country or an area are asked to give their opinion about or decide an {ONE} important political or social question” – Cambridge Dictionary

The persistent drumbeat of the U.S. presidential campaign is becoming overwhelming and it will get worse in the weeks to follow. Who knows what will ensue in the U.S. after November? 

We Canadians watching conventional news and social media are aware of the pending electoral storms brewing across our provincial horizons. Political pundits are having a field day and their platforms are expanding – all to glorify the political events growing in prominence through our daily lives. Call it hype if you will.

Unfortunately, all the noise is about specific issues and their proponents. No doubt, the issues are real, important and maybe even critical, here and abroad. Who could sneer at the border issues, climate change, abortion, gun control, the economy, health care, homelessness, the Ukraine / Middle East conflicts, etc.  

Their prominence is generated by the activists who are shouting for or against them and in a democracy, activism is a healthy thing. But it has its limits as any activist will tell you. 

Working at these issues outside of the political power centres is a long and difficult road and all too often the required tenacity is just not enough. However, election times breathe life into those issues and they develop their own prominence, at the cost of losing focus on the real purpose of an election.

Our democracies give us a narrow window to elect the leaders who will lead our countries, provinces or municipalities and once the election is over, they are in charge; with all the authority we electors can possibly give them, likely for the next four years. Say what you will about public scrutiny, but replacing them takes a force majeure between elections and good luck with that. 

And once the election noises are silenced, the leaders have to get down to the job of governing – that persistent, daily work of managing the resources of their constituencies to address all, not just one, but all those vibrant issues, the old silent ones that remained persistent and the new issues that pop up to everyone’s surprise. And to do all that difficult and complex work, special skill sets are required. 

Electors, caught up in the fever of an election should be evaluating political candidates on their ability to work through all those issues while maintaining stable governing operations, but are they? Are they basing their voting decisions on the leadership and governing abilities of the candidates or are they voting to ensure they can keep their guns? 

Unfortunately, scanning the election news rarely provides any insight on a candidate’s abilities as the candidates tout their positions on particular issues to one-up their opponents.  Regrettably, close scrutiny of their “positions” only means they are in favour or against an issue and, unfortunately, that is good enough to get them elected. And, then electors are left with what they blindly voted for. 

André Clément
Greater Sudbury