In Part 4, I gave a story of my little encounter with a Canadian Member of Parliament (MP).
With this little meeting, I assigned a governance-to-politics ratio of 5% to 95%. When MPs are outside of Parliament, they are mostly working for the political party, not the people.
This article deals with their work in Parliament.
The Backbencher
This MP in the previous article was known as a backbencher. Backbenchers are the MPs who are not appointed to cabinet, where the big decisions are made. In the Canadian Parliament, the ratio of government backbenchers to cabinet ministers is about eight to one. In the provincial legislatures, the ratio is about four to one. In other words, it’s not likely a career in politics will lead to a cabinet position.
The backbencher has legislative duties. It is expected that they should be around the Parliament when it is in session. Notice that I said “around,” not “in.” In Canada’s Westminster system, it is impractical for all MPs to be in the House for all the formal discussion and votes that turn a bill into law. This is especially true for the cabinet ministers who always have a long daily schedule and need to minimize their time in the House. So the political parties have an agreement to send a few representatives to the House, in approximate proportion to the seats they hold from the election. In this way, the votes still go the way of the majority — and all MPs from all parties have lots of non-House time to deal with other affairs. It is the backbenchers that provide the warm bodies to vote the way the parties want them to vote — and all the Westminster rules are properly followed.
Canadian backbenchers also serve on legislative committees, created by the rules of Westminster. Committee members are composed of members of all political parties, in approximate proportion to the parties’ standing in Parliament. Committees can send amendments back to cabinet.
Ideally, the committees should be a free discussion of the bill. But often, the informal roles of the committee members MPs are to follow the directions of the handlers of the political parties: support, oppose, stall, make amendments, rubber stamp, collaborate to a certain degree, negotiate deals, etc.
Backbenchers attend caucus meetings of their political parties. Unlike Parliament and legislative committees, these meetings are not available for public scrutiny.
The government backbenchers are — legally speaking — the overseers of the cabinet. So these meetings are where backbenchers can exert their influence over the cabinet. If too many backbenchers leave the government caucus to sit as independents, the government can fall and a new election is called. So differences of opinion can be aired in caucus. A wise cabinet needs to attain at least the tacit support of the government backbenchers. But after the caucus meeting is over, party unity must be displayed for the party to function well. If the party is divided, it becomes difficult to pass new bills. The other party will likely win the next election. Backbenchers often compromise their personal opinions and perspectives for future electoral success.
Most backbenchers yearn for a cabinet position. Cabinet is where they will have the influence to use their talents and experience to make a better world. Part of getting that influence is being a good backbencher beforehand. Backbenchers should obey the party handlers as the backbenchers conduct their duties in the House and on legislative committees. In other words, these handlers tell the backbencher how to vote. Voting against a party directive means losing favor for a future cabinet position.
Who are these handlers? Usually they are the party leader’s close circle who are appointed by the party leader. They could be a few elected members of that party. They could be a high-ranking member of the Party hierarchy. They could be the leader’s campaign workers as that leader rose in the party. They could be civil servants who understand the workings of the civil service. They could be individuals with specific talents, such as speech writing, social media management, and Westminster expertise.
These handlers are powerful in setting the legislative agenda for the governing party. They are more powerful than the backbenchers. Yet they are not elected. And they are not in the media spotlight.
The opposition parties have a similar group surrounding their leader.
As undemocratic as the handlers sound, I can’t imagine Canada’s Westminster system working better if the handlers are somehow elected rather than appointed. The party leader needs a skillful, united, and loyal team to handle the many details of his office while the party leader does the public part of his job. People need to be moved in and out as needed, and working as a team is an important attribute.
The Grade for Parliamentarians
It is time to grade the backbenchers. Backbenchers do have some legal clout, caucus meetings, and lot of informal discussion in the Halls of Parliament. Backbenchers can put a “bug in a cabinet minister’s ear.” So backbenchers have some influence.
Because the overseeing role of backbenchers, the backbenchers must be managed wisely by the party leader, the party handlers, and the cabinet to keep the backbenchers onside with the party agenda. There is no dictatorship in Canadian politics because the government backbenchers are — informally — a check-and-balance against an abuse of power.
I would grade the government backbenchers’ work, while in Parliament, at 25% governance and 75% politics. Most of their work involves keeping the current government as government, hence the 75% for politics.
Cabinet Ministers are the elected MPs engaging with the civil service, experts, stakeholders, and the media. They are very busy politicians. I would put their grade at 60% governance and 40% politics.
Opposition leaders can use the rules of Parliament to slow down the workings of Parliament. So there are often deals struck for various reasons that sometimes lead to governance. Their score is 30% governance and 70% politics.
Opposition backbenchers have little influence. Their job is to work their elected position for their party to do better in the next election. Their score is 10% governance and 90% politics. The 10% is perhaps generous.
The True Number of People in Government
In Canada’s political system, the elected representatives who are mostly in a governance mode of thinking are the 25 or so cabinet ministers. That’s it. The rest of the 338 MPs are mostly in politics, not governance.
Sad, is it not?
Published on Medium 2023
