August 13, 2015
Long Term Memory
An old friend dropped in recently and since our short term memories are failing we did the old man’s stunt of going back to talk of the “good old days.” With an election in the offing we were discussing how governments worked in the decades when we were young gaffers ready to take on the world.
We talked of the days before the current regime when ordinary folk were integral to shaping government policy. Big policy conventions were held by all Parties and the cabinet and Prime Minister of the day was on the hot-seat. The general shape of the platforms was put in place. It was well publicized by the hordes of press that recorded every step and misstep. Following debate would occur as to whether some radical ideas would survive to be in the actual platform. The Party leaders then went to the hustings to present the platform that represented the collective thoughts of the membership that had made their contribution. I recall one such policy convention when southern Ontario tried to push through a motion to have all agricultural products placed under “supply management.” It is vivid in my long term memory because I took on the task of defeating the motion, a move that all Western farmers would support.
Another item that came up from our collective memories was the fact that Senator Herb Sparrow from North Battleford took on the task of convincing western farmers to convert from summer fallow to continuous cropping. The researchers from the U of S had already determined the wisdom of this major agronomic shift but it took Sparrow to make it a governmental issue. Otto Lang from Humboldt was convinced by the common sense of Sparrow’s leadership and put some dollar benefits to farmers who made the switch. That kind of grass-roots change that grew out of a few farmer’s leadership was the way that participative democracy is supposed to work, rather than the top-down ideological control that has currently evolved.
Opinions expressed here are those of the author.
Opinions expressed here are those of the author.
