OTTAWA—Wandering around the marble halls of our Canadian Parliament building, I am struck by how inviting our democracy is.
Feeling a little like Harry Potter stumbling around Hogwarts Hall, I can almost sense the secrets hiding in forgotten corners, a magic just waiting to be discovered.
Committees, panel reports, and passionate debate—these may not be the potions and flying brooms of J. K. Rowling’s fantasy world, but there is a mystique to this process, an aged wisdom to its conventions that can lend tremendous power if one but learns its spells.
How strange it must be in those countries where the government is run by death eaters and ruled by He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named except by bombastic doublethink titles.
In Canada, there are certainly villains creeping slyly with goals contrary to the good these vaulted ceiling were meant to shelter, but for all that we find ill about the work that happens within Parliament’s walls, Canadians can sleep with the comfort of knowing that, on the whole, all is well here.
There are no plans to curtail their freedoms, silence their journalists, or trick their patriotism into nationalistic fury against bogus enemies with fabricated plots. Within these solemn chambers, their government remains subject to scrutiny, democratic challenge, and vigorous criticism.
How odd for the people of those countries where reporters die for exposing the nasty dealings of dictators. How bizarre to be subject to tyranny, where ill-natured men decide who can speak, when and what they can say, and those out of line must fear for their lives.
But not here, where a leisurely stroll through a metal detector can get one into the very hall of power, the House of Commons, where our temporary rulers fight with words for votes and what they believe is the best way to serve their constituents.
They may embarrass us at times for entangling their selfish interests in their duties for the country, but on the whole, these are wizards of a well-intentioned council, not the demons of destructive demagoguery.
In this age of information, the attentive citizen can keep an eye on the members of Parliament through streaming videos and transcripts of the latest debates. Reports are just a click away, and voters can tell their elected representative how they feel with a few quickly typed paragraphs and cut-and-pasted news reports that back up their position.
And yet, as I walk along these gleaming floors, past marble columns and security guards (deputies of directions in this maze of corridors), I can’t help but notice how empty this place is.
I sometimes wonder if democracy has become passé to the average citizen, if cynicism precludes participation in a process open for honest influence and, yes, also at risk of furtive manipulation.
For all that the Internet has done to open these halls to those who can’t walk here themselves—and the situation is similar in democracies around the world—fewer turn out for each successive vote. It is a depressing observation because there truly is a magic here, asking to be discovered, a power waiting to be wielded by worthy heroes with well-informed opinions.
