What If We Tried This...

Every so often, I get a little poli-nerdy.

It comes from a fascination with political systems and math.  As I've become more entrenched in the political world as a reporter, I've been able to see a number of elections transpire with a variety of outcomes.  And after every election, there's always talk about electoral reform.

You see, whenever someone loses an election, there's an instant belief that the numbers don't make sense.  How can a party garner 35-40% of popular support, command 80% of the legislature or House of Commons?  This is nothing new to the game, as political parties from both sides of the spectrum have cried foul over the representation not necessarily mirroring what the popular vote says.

So what would electoral reform look like?  Is it representation-by-population?  Is it a set number of delegates from each province and territory (ie 5 for each)?  Even beyond that is the argument over how to get more people out to vote.

I'm going to propose something a little crazy.  What if we did a mish-mash of the different kinds of systems out there?

Here's what I'm thinking: each party runs in an election with a "depth chart".  In Alberta, you would have your leader, deputy leader, finance minister, agriculture minister, justice minister, and on and on.  In federal politics, same idea, with maybe a BC Minister, Alberta Minister, etc, to go along with your standard ministries (and maybe you want to give some more than one portfolio, so the justice minister is also Manitoba minister).  This gives the electorate an understanding of how big your cabinet would be, where your strengths are, what you think will be important portfolios, and that kind of thing.

Then come election day, whatever percentage of the vote you get is how many seats you end up receiving.  So in Alberta, we have 87 seats.  Let's say the top percentage vote is 43%, so you will end up with 37 seats.  You end up with 8% of the vote, you get 7 seats.  So each party will pick their best people to sit in those seats while the rest can work as advisers or whatever the case may be.

Add in fixed election dates and recall legislation and I think you make the case for forcing parties to work together for the greater good.  The fixed election dates mean you can't have opposition parties with non-confidence motions forcing another election, and utilize recall legislation for the entire group, so if we, as the electorate, feel we're not being served, we can toss those not getting along.

I know the one argument against this idea will be that we're essentially taking local representation away.  And while I don't necessarily disagree, how often have we seen it where local MLAs or MPs are nothing more than puppets for the party anyways?  I know of politicians who sat for years or even decades without doing anything of real substance, never sat as cabinet ministers, yet continued to get voted in because they were with the governing party.  What if this new kind of government would force governments to hear concerns of all Albertans (or Canadians), rather than listen to only those in their own jurisdictions, so that they can get a "full picture" of each of their decisions?  Interestingly enough, I do believe in local representation.  But I also vote based on who will be the best representative for me and for the people in my riding.  As weird as it sounds, I'd rather have my representative be effective in opposition, rather than be a lap-dog with the governing party.

I'm not pretending to have all the answers or to understand all the ins and outs of how this system would totally work.  But maybe this can be a bit of a discussion-starter when it comes to thinking outside the box, rather than believing that the system can only work in one of two or three ways.

Because the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and over again while expecting a different result.  And that's sort of how it feels when it comes to election reform.

Take Care Of Yourself

It doesn't matter who you are, you need to decompress sometimes.

That's the lovely thing about summer.  Typically it's the time of the year everyone takes a week or two off.  You get out of the house a little more, maybe take off from the office an hour early here and there, in hopes of escaping, even for a little while.

As reporters, we sometimes forget to do that.  In a sense, we're addicted to information.  We want to keep our audiences informed and we don't want to miss anything.  I've admitted before that going on vacation used to be a little weird.  But in this world of constant communication, it's really important to disconnect.

What I find interesting is that we spend so much time focusing on mental health issues and discussions in media, yet it's not really something we talk about for ourselves, as an industry.  It's one thing to say "time to disconnect" during vacations.  It's another to start talking about disconnecting after major emotional or psychological stories, or just from the simple day-to-day stories we cover. 

Here in Calgary, many were glued to their local news outlets, hoping to hear the latest about five-year-old Taliyah Marsman.  Her mother, Sara Baillie, was found dead in their northwest Calgary home in July, leading to an Amber Alert for the little girl.  There was so much mystery around her disappearance, and it quickly became a national story.  Everyone was hoping for the best, but unfortunately the worst was realized when her body was found outside city limits a few days later.

It was an emotional roller-coaster for everyone, including those covering the story, as they spoke with family, friends and others, who were also holding out hope.  The raw emotion you witness first-hand as a reporter can be extremely intense and this was no exception.  As I was being interviewed by one of our national hosts during the search, I realized just how often this kind of story had happened in our listening area.  There was the Nathan O'Brien case, where he and his grandparents, Alvin and Kathy Liknes, disappeared from Calgary.  Their bodies were never found, but murder charges were eventually laid.  There was the Hailey Dunbar-Blanchette case, where she and her father were killed in Coleman.  Murder charges were eventually laid there as well.  You had one with a happier ending a few years earlier with the disappearance of Kienan Hebert in Sparwood.  He was returned to his home a few days after the search began, with a man being charged with kidnapping.

All were high-profile and all were emotionally-charged.  I know many people who shed tears over these cases.  And I know many reporters who did the same thing.  As much as some people think we're "vultures" with no emotion, I would say for most here in Calgary, it's untrue.  We do take our work home with us sometimes.

Many of us talk with friends and family about the stories we cover.  And it's not always good news.  I'm lucky that way.  I have a great support system of family and friends who let me vent when I need to, or simply let me unwind.  I have outlets like hosting hockey games which allows me to find balance in my life.  But I know not everyone has that.  After what's been a busy summer, then having this past week off to let loose, I wanted to write something to you.  You might be a reporter friend, a family member of a reporter or simply someone interested in media.

My message here is simple: don't be afraid to disconnect and unwind.  Find something that allows you to "get away", even if it is for a few hours.  It will do you a world of good when the world only wants to throw you the bad.