ARE WE IN "A POST DEMOCRATIC ERA" IN CANADA

No matter what the pundits say, electoral reform in Canada isn’t dead yet. Photo of electoral reform supporters by Ryan Hodnett, Creative Commons license CC BY-SA 2.0.

WHAT IF CANADA IS REALLY A CORPORATE DICTATORSHIP... Not the Great Democracy They Always Tell Us We Are?

And what does that mean?

Who tells us we are a great democracy? The media, which the corporations own, always tell us what a great democracy we are. The idea is never even questioned. And our top politicians—who the corporations control—also always tell us what a great democracy we are, even as they betray that democracy every day of the year. Because we don't have a free press in Canada, and we absolutely don't have democratic governments here in Canada. What we have, in my opinion, is a corporate dictatorship. Canada is really run by, and for, big business and the 0.01% ownership class—and the whole democracy and free press thing is all a sad illusion.

And they do it very well. I certainly believed Canada was a great democracy for most of my life; and it's been a bit of a shock to see things for what they really are. It happened to me over a period of a few decades. Bit by bit, and more by accident than by design, I began to see what a lie it all is.

And it is a very dangerous lie—if we believe it. Because if we think we live in a great democracy, while really the corporations control our politicians and run our governments... and if we think we have a free press that works for us and whom we can trust, but really that free press is owned by the corporations (which it is)... then can you see how dangerous that is for us?

The Price We Are Paying for Having Lost Our Democracy

Maybe I'm wrong, but I completely believe that the housing disaster in Canada has been deliberately created. Why would they create a housing disaster? Because—where do you think all the money is going? All the high rents. All the high mortgages. All the stress. All the hard work. To the point where young people can't afford to have children, and seemingly millions of Canadians can barely afford to eat.

Where is all their money going? How did that happen? Do you remember voting for that? How is it that we suddenly became unable to build enough homes for the people who live here? It is that "shortage of homes" that is at the bottom of the entire housing mess. A shortage of homes means high rents, high prices, high mortgage payments, a lot of stress, renovictions, homelessness, and so on. The investors and the banks and the speculators and the landlords... they all won. And a lot of people lost—big time. And those losers have to pay for the growing wealth at the top with their own poverty.

There was never any need for the housing disaster in Canada—except that it is a way for some people to make lots of money. And so that is exactly what they did. And that is exactly how they treat us.

Which Is Why We Need More Democracy

Democracy is government of, by, and for the people. Democracy means that we have a voice in our own governance—and this is a good thing that we should always have. Democracy means the people rule, from the Greek words demos (the people) and kratia (to rule). But what we have in Canada, I think, is government of, by, and for the corporation. And they are destroying everything. And if you don't think so, just look around. They—this small corporate elite—have taken over our country and made the rest of us irrelevant. That is the biggest problem in Canada today.

And yet it is never mentioned by any of our politicians or any of our media. I wonder why the idea of a corporate elite maybe having too much power is never talked about. I mean, has that ever been a story in Canada? And why not?

The Real Problem: Our Democracy Has Been Stolen

I think our real problem here in Canada is that our democracy has been stolen from us by the 0.01% corporate elite class. So we have got to stop them and take our democracy back from them. And we can do it.

Our political parties can be taken back from the corporations that control them now, and our political parties can be democratized—meaning that the party members control the party. Our MLAs and MPs have got to start to work for Canadians—not just work for Corporate Canada. And if we can make that happen, it would be a huge step forward. And it can be done. But it will be a fight because the power structure is not going to give up their power and wealth without a fight. But the political parties are important, so we have to take them back. And the media are important, so we have to also build the free press that a democracy requires.

The Price We Pay (Again): Housing, Health Care, and Lies

The loss of our democracy is the real reason why we have this housing mess in Canada that has cost us so dearly. The corporations created a shortage of housing in order to push up rents and prices, and our governments allowed them to do it. And our media hid the truth about what was going on—and still do. Was it deliberate? Is that question—how did this disaster happen to us—so completely and ridiculously stupid that it can't even be asked?

And it's the same with health care. Our health care system is run, top to bottom, by big business. And all they care about is money and profit. Our health is probably the last thing they are concerned about. And I mean the people at the very top, not all the great people who work in the system and do their best. But all the control is at the top. And you can bet that big business is making lots of money from our health care system while millions of us can't get a doctor and have to wait 12 hours in an ER to get treatment.

Their medicines have so many side effects that it's dangerous to take them—dangerous for us maybe, but very profitable for them. And on and on it goes. We have no say in our health care system or in our health. And the people we elect have no say either. All the power in Canada’s governments is at the top—in the hands of the Premiers and the Prime Minister. The people at the top have far too much power, which is a very undemocratic situation. But it’s never talked about because nobody at the top wants to talk about it.

It’s Our Fault—Because We Still Trust Them

This can only be done to us because we continue to believe in and trust people who are in no way worthy of our trust.

It’s our fault—because we continue to believe them and trust them. We have allowed ourselves to be slowly pushed out of our democracy because of our continued belief in their media and in their politicians and governments. I believe in democracy: government of, by, and for the people. I think we'd be a lot better off if we had more of that. And I believe in a free press—we need that.

But the problem is that "the bad guys (and gals)" have taken over our governments—and they own the media—and they are wrecking everything so they can make even more money.

We Need to Take the Power Back

There is so much expertise in our communities, but our politicians are seemingly taught and trained to ignore "the people" and instead do what they are told from above. And all our governments and politicians are like that. And it is completely undemocratic.

The politicians’ #1 job—their most important job—should be to ensure that Canadians have good access to information. And then, the politicians should do their best to find out what we want... and then they should do that. If we were a democracy, that is pretty much how things would work. Because that is a democratic way of doing things.

But that is the exact opposite of what we have in Canada today. And that is what we have to change if we want to move ahead. Our rulers always want to isolate us and keep us far away from any of the levers of power. So we have to start to work together—and we should focus on going after where the real power is.

One Place Where There Is Still Power: The Political Parties

It could have an impact if Canadians—by the thousands—joined their favourite political parties, and then worked together to democratize them. Just take the power away from the small gangs that have all the power now, and give that power to the party members—which is exactly where the power should be.

If we could begin to do something like that—and it is very possible—then I think we would immediately see Canada start to become a better country for the vast majority of us.