Breakenridge: Despite recent failings, voter recall may still be a useful tool |
There could still be some choppy political waters ahead, but the UCP must be feeling like the wind is at its back at the moment.
A Leger poll released last week showed the UCP holding a 17-point lead over the Opposition NDP. And the wave of voter recall campaigns aimed at embarrassing or even toppling the UCP government has completely fizzled out.
As it stands, there are still two active voter recall petition efforts — one targeting Progressive Tory Party of Alberta leader and Airdrie-Cochrane MLA Peter Guthrie, while the other is aimed at New Democrat St. Albert MLA Marie Renaud. But the petition campaigns launched against two dozen UCP MLAs have all now officially failed.
This may only serve to further discredit the idea of voter recall. Perhaps the folks behind the give-them-a-taste-of-their-own-medicine campaign were never really committed supporters of direct democracy in the first place, anyway.
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But between the developments here in Alberta and some political drama in Ottawa, there’s an opportunity to find some middle ground on voter recall and create some consensus around a valuable accountability tool.
When these recall petitions were first launched, there was much hand-wringing from the government about “abuse” of process or that the “spirit of the law” was not being followed. It was always a strange argument for this government, since it not only designed and implemented recall legislation, but then subsequently lowered the threshold.
It may have become easier to recall an elected official but, as we see, it’s still pretty damn hard.
Meanwhile, the latest — and arguably the most perplexing — floor-crossing in Ottawa has reopened the debate around the ethics of party-hopping and whether there’s a need for some kind of a mechanism to limit or prohibit the practice.
For all of its flaws, Alberta’s voter recall legislation offers that mechanism. The circus spawned here by that legislation, though, will certainly make it harder for such a rule to be adopted federally.
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In Alberta, the political firestorm that engulfed the participants in the mass floor-crossing of 2014 has to this day cast a chill on the practice. The ideological divide between the two main provincial parties is obviously another factor in how rare this has become.
But if voter recall is intended to address “exceptional circumstances,” as opposed to mere disapproval of government policies, then it’s reasonable that switching parties be included in the former.
It would be too heavy-handed to ban floor-crossing altogether, and forcing a byelection in every instance would be enough of a deterrent to constitute a de facto ban.
But for as much as these recent floor-crossers have made untestable claims about talking to constituents about their decision, voter recall provides a potential way of putting that to the test.
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A redesigned and refocused voter recall law in Alberta could serve as that example. The problem for now is that we’re still operating under the changes that came into effect less than a year ago.
October takes us to the 12-month window before the next scheduled election, which also closes the door on any new recall petitions. That also happens to coincide with the province’s scheduled referendum day. A question on voter recall — status quo vs. new limits vs. abolition — would be one option for moving forward.
The other path would be consultation over the coming months, paving the way for a revised policy before the next election campaign. Either way, the government’s awkward handling of this issue speaks to the need for a mandate for a new approach.
It’s been a bumpy road for voter recall in Alberta, but the recent events in Ottawa are a good reminder of why this is still a useful tool.
Rob Breakenridge is a Calgary-based podcaster and writer. He can be found at robbreakenridge.ca and reached at rob.breakenridge@gmail.com