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MLA: You don’t vote for the tail

Bureaucracy overtakes elected representatives
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By Rick Strankman, MLA

Drumheller - Stettler

In order for a society to achieve democracy, it must have the ability to participate freely and equally in the political and economic affairs that affect that society. True democracy reflects the will of the people free from manipulation of the bureaucracy and backroom management of the unelected.

When the bureaucracy overtakes the elected representatives it is often referred to as “the tail wagging the dog.” That refers to the less important and vital parts of an entity becoming more important than the actual people who were elected to make decisions on your behalf. Unfortunately, it is something that has become far too common on today’s political landscape.

To properly hold elected representatives to account, we must first distinguish the difference between their responsibility and the accountability we should reasonably expect from them. Responsibility refers to the duty of care the elected representative has to those who have entrusted them with their best interests. Accountability, on the other hand, is the moral obligation to answer for their actions when carrying out the responsibilities entrusted to you which makes it very difficult to hold them accountable when they ultimately are not making the decisions.

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As the elected member of the Alberta Legislature for Drumheller - Stettler, it is reasonable for the constituents to have that expectation of accountability from me. That accountability came of my own free will when I allowed my name to stand in the last 2012 and 2015 general elections. My responsibility and accountability is to every constituent - with no exceptions.

It’s important to respect that the electorate has certain reasonable expectations of their duly elected representatives, but unfortunately given the chance the bureaucracy can undermine those expectations. The problem is that the expectations of the electorate have little to no value to the bureaucrats that are ultimately not accountable to voters. As we move towards the decision Albertans are going to have to make in the next provincial election it will be of great importance to avoid the pitfalls we’ve seen in the past.

The preservation of your democratic right is ultimately up to those elected to protect it. In the coming months, you will have the opportunity to ask questions of those vying for a seat in the legislature and it’s important that those people understand what your expectations are. It’s important to let people that want to be your representatives know that you’re not alright with bureaucrats running the show.

Our provincial representation has evolved into a process that has become largely undemocratic. The lack of free votes by MLAs in the Legislature and the expectation to tow the party line being pushed by the unelected bureaucrats removes the democracy that should belong to the electorate.

We’ve witnessed years of government elected representatives generally having little if any, real input into the decisions that impact the lives of those who voted for them. It’s hard to believe that anyone would find it acceptable to have their decision makers unaccountable and unelected.

It’s even harder to believe that they would want the tail to be wagging the dog!

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