Know what your voting on!

One of the most important aspects of being an elected official is to know what you are voting on.

There have been times throughout my decade-long political career when it was clear that one or more of my colleagues clearly did not do their homework.

No doubt our work is complex. It requires an inquisitive mind and you have to be a quick learner. You must be able to gather volumes of information and commit it to memory. You have to be quick on your feet, so you can the parse information that is flying at you and speak to it coherently. And, you have to be quick witted to be able to understand how the information will affect the personalities at the table. All of this hopefully helps advance ideas and convince your colleagues in the process of shaping good public policy.

None of this is possible if you haven’t done your homework. At the local council table an elected official can be carried by their colleagues for a little while. But they are quickly exposed because there are so few people at the table.

The municipal council table and the provincial legislative precinct are vastly different. In the provincial legislature, there is more going on at any given time. Multiple houses reviewing multiple items, management or standing committees meeting here and there, issues briefings and stakeholder meetings pull elected officials and staff in many different directions.

Working together, trust and good communication

In short, it is important for MLAs to work together. Trust is critical. Smooth information flow is necessary. There is a high likelihood that bells ringing because division was called on a vote in the house, will pull people from all corners of the precinct into the Chamber for a standing vote.

It is critical to keep track of where everyone is and make sure they are within earshot of the bells and 5 minutes from the Chamber. That is the primary job of the Whip.

Unfortunately, the Whip can allow bad habits to evolve. As MLAs are walking through the doors they often murmur, “What is this vote for?” There is only a minor difference between that and, “How are we voting?”

These questions mask a much deeper problem in team politics. While working together is a requirement to keeping the ball moving on many files because managing a province is a complex business, it also creates the space for many backbenchers to get lost in the background noise of the place. They get let off the hook.

What emerges is the question, “What are voting on?” It is a problem when elected officials vote on items they have not taken the time to review. We should be doing our homework and only voting on legislation when we understand the implications of our votes.

Image by Casiopeia from Pixabay