Share this Story: Brookman: No personal political attacks, please; we're Canadians
Brookman: No personal political attacks, please; we're Canadians
George Brookman
Mar 29, 2019 • March 29, 2019 • 3 minute read • Join the conversation
Columnist George Brookman pleads for greater civility in this provincial election campaign. Postmedia, file
Every two years, the Stampede names a new president and chairman of the board, (congratulations to Dana Peers) selected by over a thousand volunteers in a well-run, well organized and transparent balloting process.
Last week, board members, employees and executive spoke about the exciting plans ahead for Stampede Park; the strategic plan for both the Stampede and the new BMO Centre and in general spoke about the strong consensus among all of the Stampede leadership regarding the future of that organization.
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I have often referred to the Calgary Stampede as being "not an event but a culture," and in so many ways, it is a culture that our entire community can be proud of.
One of the most positive aspects of the meeting I attended is the respect that all volunteers, employees and board members have for each other, and the smooth transition of leadership without acrimony.
Contrast that to what we are seeing in our own province these days. Individuals calling each other "liars or racists or incompetent" and it gets worse from there. Is this what Canadian democracy has become — insults over policies and a stream of personal attacks over planning substance.
I cannot imagine what you might drum up if you went back to my 20s and tried to repeat some of the things I said when I was a young man, yet individuals are constantly attacked for what they might have said or done in their youth. Wisdom may not come with maturity, in fact, I am pretty sure that it does not. But maturity does bring a certain amount of realization that what we believed to be absolutely true when we were 20 often proves to be absolutely incorrect when we have the chance to look back over time.
For many years, I have said that we should all have respect for anyone who runs for office. Without people willing to put their names forward for political service, we cannot have a democracy. I have never forgotten the words of the late energy minister Merv Leitch, speaking at a Rotary Club meeting, many years ago. "Canada is unique in the world in the fact that the amount of corruption, self-interest and dishonest action by politicians is undoubtedly the lowest by far of any country on earth," he said.
I still believe that to be the case, and while I do not endorse much of what is often proposed, I am still naive enough to believe that our political leaders put forward ideas and concepts that they personally believe are the best for their constituents.
With that in mind, I sincerely wish that the discourse in these election battles focus more on policy and much less on personal insults and attacks. I still believe Canada is a special place, a place of tolerance, adaptation and peace.
There is a reason that we call our Parliament buildings the Peace Tower and there are even more reasons why our Constitution calls for "Peace, Order and Good Government." I still believe that most politicians deserve a "thank you for your service" rather than an attack or insult and that politicians themselves, should be looking for ways to reach more consensus in their strategic plans rather than trying to bounce us from one extreme position to another based on their feelings that they need to score big political points with their political base.
I would urge every single person running for office to bear in mind that at the end of the day, we are all Canadians, we all have a "Canadian way" of conducting ourselves and that if the politics of the day are reduced to nothing more than a series of personal attacks and personal insults, it will only result in an even further loss of respect and an even further reduction in our ability to function as a country or as a province.
George Brookman is CEO of West Canadian Digital Imaging Inc. and former president of the Calgary Stampede.
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