Political protests are interesting. They are the raw, rowdy voice of democracy. Political protests have changed the course of nations; they've defeated governments and brought about massive changes in the way people are governed. The Arab Spring series of political protests have seen the fall of regimes in Tunisia and Egypt, a civil war in Libya as well as uprisings in Bahrain, Syria and Yemen.
Locally - and just 11 years ago - Prince George was the focus of discontent against the former NDP government. In 2000, we hosted the first "Have you had enough?" rally at the Civic Centre. And in June of that year, 7,000 of us gathered at the then Prince George Multiplex to voice our concern over government cuts to health care.
Both gatherings were well attended and wildly successful. Collectively they set the tone for provincial action resulting in a huge defeat for the governing NDP as well as the establishment of a medical school at The University of Northern British Columbia.
Both those events had a singular purpose. The "Have you had enough?" rally focused on our economic woes. Unemployment throughout B.C. was in the double digits and the government was seen as incapable of attracting investment and improving the economy.
The "Condition Critical" health-care rally protested cut backs to health care in our region. Surgeries were being cancelled and MDs were withdrawing services.
Those protest were successful because they had a focus and they proposed an actionable remedy.
Fast forward to the "Occupy Wall Street" events of the last few weeks - particularly those held in Canada - and it's clear those folks could learn a lot about organizing a rally.
I will admit those protesting in the U.S. have a point. Their government is unresponsive and dysfunctional, the tax system is unfair, unemployment is high - with no sign of relief - and the nation's economic woes were in the main self-inflicted and self-inflicted from on high.
However, to have political influence in the U.S. you must have two things: One, really deep pockets, in the order of millions, though billions is better, and two, committed supporters who can deliver a majority vote in a majority of States.
The Occupy Wall Street crowd, have neither.
But it's a bit different in Canada. Politically, it's easy for entry-level political movements to flourish and grow in Canada. Look at the Bloc and the Reform parties. Both are now marginalized but they had their day and had a considerable influence on the Canadian political scene. And both were armed with a focused concern.
From a quality of life perspective, and unlike the U.S., we have comprehensive medical care and low unemployment, 6.7 per cent in B.C., 7.1 per cent nationally. Plus we have a solid economy and a trustworthy banking and credit union system.
In the U.S., Wall Street has become a pretty good target and no doubt some of those investment houses and commercial banks have gotten away with acts that would have been deemed criminal in Canada.
But I would avoid any attempts to tie Wall Street behavior to Canadian corporations. First of all our rules are better, but more importantly if you look at the investment portfolio of the Canada Pension Plan; it holds 15 per cent of its portfolio in Canadian equities and those holdings reads like a corporate Canada who's who.
Like or not, every Canadian is economically tied to the success of our Canadian corporations.
To be sure, all is not perfect in Canada. There is a growing gap between the rich and the poor. But what's the remedy. Do we attempt to halt success? Eliminate entrepreneurship? I think not.
As a sidebar observation, the best way to bring about fairness in the tax system is to follow the example of the Denmark, Finland and Sweden where after-tax inequality is low. Those countries have low marginal corporate tax rates, higher personal tax rates and high consumption tax rates. For consumption tax read (gasp) HST. The reason being that an HST is tough to avoid, as there are fewer loopholes than with either personal or corporate consumption taxes.
But that debate is over and we're stuck with our own rendition of inequality.
At the end of the day, it would be good if U.S. politicians listened to voices and concerns of those expressing their dissatisfaction. But that won't happen.
While in Canada it's been interesting to watch protesters attempt to gain some steam and borrow on U.S. discontent. In Vancouver, Toronto and wherever they've gathered they've caught the attention of the press and lightened up the news hour. But, with little focus and even less coordination, that's about all.
There is a cardinal rule to all protests. From Gandhi to Martin Luther King to the Prince George protests of 11 years ago. To be successful, it really helps if you've got something to say.
Bruce Strachan is a former B.C. cabinet minister and Prince George city councillor. His column appears Thursdays in The Citizen. E-mail: brucestrachan1@shaw.ca
