LOCAL POLITICS
STEVEN FRIEDMAN: Citizens are better served with provincial governments
North West does not show that elected provincial governments can get away with not doing what voters want — it shows the opposite
This is not a good time to insist that we need elected provincial governments. But, despite the mood of these times, we do need them if we want to make it more likely that the people control what the government does to and for them. The national government’s decision to place the entire North West government under its administration, the first time this has happened to a province, won’t trigger much criticism: the North West government is widely seen as a place for politicians who look after themselves, not the province’s citizens. And the message it sends – that people are better off being governed by officials and technicians than by an elected provincial government – will also please the many voices who see the provinces as a barrier to better governing. For government strategists and more than a few voices outside government, provinces are a den of inefficiency, greed and waste, and scrapping them would make it a lot easier to govern well. But, while painting all provincial gove...
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