There must be (at least) nine more ways for the Liberals to defend democracy

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In case anyone wasn’t clear on how the Liberal government views the stakes in its battle against Google and Facebook, here is the way Prime Minister Justin Trudeau described them at a press conference last week, after Facebook started blocking Canadian news media on its platforms, and Google threatened to do the same:

“Journalists should be paid for their work they do serving our democracy. … Canadians have a long history of standing up to bullies, and Facebook made the wrong choice in attacking Canada. We defend democracy around the world. It’s what we’re doing by supporting Ukraine. It’s what we did in the Second World War. It’s what we do at the United Nations every day. We are there to defend the principles and values of democracy.”

Our response is twofold. One, wow. Mr. Trudeau’s rousing defence of our way of life may be lacking a bit of perspective. And two, could we get a little more of that enthusiasm for democracy right here at home?

Here are nine things Mr. Trudeau can do to defend the principles and values of democracy without leaving Ottawa, spending much money or storming the private beaches of billionaire tech CEOs:

• Read The Globe and Mail’s Secret Canada series about the consequences of a federal access to information system that is overworked, underfunded and purpose-built to keep the public in the dark and frustrate the work of journalists. You remember journalists – those people whose service to democracy is so important that defending it is akin to something Canada is doing in Ukraine, did in the Second World War, and does at the UN every day.
• Put an end to a culture of cabinet confidentiality that has been described as the most restrictive regime of any Westminster-style government in the world, the provinces included. While no one questions the need for cabinet confidentiality, Canada has gone too far in a direction contrary to the democratic principle of government accountability.
• If your government is alerted to the fact that China attempted to meddle in the general elections of 2019 and 2021, respond forcefully in order to preserve the legitimacy of federal elections – that being a big part of, you know, democracy. Possible responses include not stalling on the creation of a registry of foreign agents, not waiting months before expelling a Chinese diplomat who plotted to intimidate an MP, and actually launching a public inquiry into the matter headed by an independent person who isn’t a close friend (and doing so some time before the next ice age).
• Don’t use your influence as prime minister to try to meddle in federal prosecutions of favoured Quebec engineering companies caught in corruption scandals. It’s not a good look for a government so keenly attuned to the principles and values of democracy, which include, of course, an independent legal system.
• Keep your promises. For example: Vowing to end first-past-the-post elections in order to attract younger Canadians and then abandoning that at the first opportunity reinforces the cynicism that estranges voters. Which is bad for, well, you know what.
• End the practice of concentrating power in the Prime Minister’s Office, a trend that is a cancer on our representative democracy. Shift power back to MPs by treating them as sentient beings, rather than as biotic voting machines programmed by party disciplinarians. Stop stifling the work of committees and blocking debate on contentious bills.
• Don’t introduce an 854-page omnibus budget implementation bill in Parliament, especially if you promised not to do this because that’s what your predecessor did, and you said it was wrong at the time.
• Fix the budget process to halt the erosion of Parliament’s ability to scrutinize spending. Federal budgets are now typically tabled after the statutory deadline for government departments to submit their annual plans. Months later, some details are provided in supplementary estimates. But some parts of those plans – most notably staffing projections – are never updated. Also, fix the federal accounting system to make it easier to examine budgets in committee.
• Just answer questions. Stop going on about Canadians expecting you to do this or that, and so this or that is what you will continue to do. Be forthcoming and honest. Everyday acts of openness by elected officials, not grandiose pronouncements, are at the heart of a healthy democracy.