Only binding referendums will force politicians to listen

Plan B. The provincial Harmonized Sales Tax (HST). The Municipal Government Act. And, most recently, the failure of the King government to enforce environmental protection laws by allowing the development at Pt. Deroche. These very costly and blatant examples of government misconduct have caused quite a stir amongst Islanders, who have responded by writing a storm of letters, holding protests, even signing petitions, and participating in plebiscites.

Sadly, these actions had little effect on forcing our elected officials to do what the hardworking taxpayers of this province put them into office for (and pay their lavish salaries most of the rest of the population can only dream about), which is carry out the will of the people and uphold the laws of the land, and not disregard them when big money is involved.

No doubt, you have most likely noticed a trend over the past few decades whereby our MLAs have begun to act more like a ruling class onto themselves and no longer feel as though they must listen to their constituents. And you will find no finer example of this than with the latest debacle surrounding Pt. Deroche. After all, without strong checks and balances in place to ensure there are consequences for ethics violations or failing to live up to their election promises, what incentive is there not to continue with their misdeeds?

Perhaps the extent of your involvement in the democratic process is to merely head to the polls every four years to cast your ballot, believing that the status quo is fine and waiting another four years to right the wrongs committed by the current administration is enough. But I guarantee if you are reading this, you may very well have concluded that our political systems have become so corrupted that the electorate must do more than merely vote, and this means becoming actively involved in politics themselves, recalling delinquent MLAs, and participating in binding referendums to stop unwanted government initiatives.

While our current political class benefits from the status quo, a growing number of folks want real change, and therefore the Island Party of Prince Edward Island is committed to standing head and shoulders above all other political parties in the province by instituting direct democracy, a major component of which will be legally binding referendums that are recognized by the courts and must be honored by the government. Perhaps if such a system had been in place, many of these unpopular actions could have been stopped.

Petitions and plebiscites rarely are effective. The electorate of PEI needs the proper tools to truly be the government once again. What are your thoughts on direct democracy and holding the government accountable? We want to hear from you!

Chris McGarry