Model Parliament

"I can resist anything but temptation" - Oscar Wilde

Or as paraphrased by an acquaintance of mine the other night, "Why resist temptation when you can give into it?"

My friends keep asking me to post a copy of a speech I wrote for a Model Parliament held in Victoria a couple weekends ago. I've been resisting the urge to self-promote. Today I'm abandoning my resistance.

I had the somewhat intimidating challenge of serving as the Prime Minister and as such had to come up with legislation (with help from my colleagues of course) a cabinet and a Speech from the Throne. I also had to face questions from about 40 opposing partisans whose hope was to embarrass me. I would describe the experience as gruelling.

The process of writing a Throne Speech was distressing. The first six or eight times I sat down to write it I found that I had nothing to say (this seldom happens to me) and then around attempt number nine I had far more to say than room in which to say it. The speech as it stands is something I'm proud of but I'd be even more proud if I'd had room to keep the sections on reforming the UN, the new Multilateralism, the strengthening of rural Canada and the question of Quebec seperatism and youth. I've posted a copy of the speech here. I'll give several thousand Crook Points (TM) to the person who finds the lines I stole from Prime Minister Pearson. I believe there are two.

This Model Parliament is the 5th simulated parliament I've been a part of and I've also participated in a Model UN Simulation. Much has been made in the media about the ongoing and apparent decline of youth participation, in particular youth voting rates and their decline. As a young Canadian with what might be dewscribed as an obsessive bent for Politics I spend a lot of time talking to my peers about Canadian politics, democracy and participation and I've noticed a number of trends when it comes to reasons for not participating in politics.

1. Young people are not familiar with our democratic institutions whether they be parliament, political parties or even elections. Most of the people my age that I talk to haven't the vaguest conception of how democratic processes work in Canada and that leaves them not knowing how to make their participation effective.

2. My friends are not unengaged they are merely engaged outside the political process. People my age who are concerned about political issues are far more likely to get involved in an NGO or Direct action movement. They are far more likely to protest than to organise politically, far more interested in getting on the frontlines of action than in changing the rules of the game.

I'd like to suggest that the first trend is the cause of the second. Before I do that though I'd like to make clear that direct action and participation in NGOs and on the front lines is profoundly valuable and worthwhile. The challenge comes from this being the only kind of action members of my generation seem interested in taking. Without engagement in the democratic political process, without the debate of ideas and the tension of complexity and the realities of politics one will inevitably find oneself at war with the apparatus of the state rather than able to enlist its resources in the struggle.

At best, Canadian students are exposed to civics education at some point in high school. perhaps they were taught by someone pationate about politics and civic engagement more likely they were taught by someone who had lost faith in the process and had given up hope in democracy. for the students who are not introduced to the political process in a practical way, they are only able to engage with the material at the level of facts about institutions that are distant or a process they have no reason to put their faith in.

The thing that cannot be taught in a classroom is the fundamental fact of political life. It is impossible to learn the nuance of a political system without some understanding about how personalities shape process and outcomes. To understand the political process to believe in the political process required that one see the process in action. I do not believe that the classroom is the place to orient young citizens to their democracy.

I think that simulations of the political process or small manifestations of it provide the best chance to engage young people in politics. Whether it is student government elections or legitimate parliamentary simulations or even the model UN. Learning to play by the rules, participating in a microcosm of the larger process gives students the context they need to to understand how the institutions function. Not only will these mean students would be more educated, they'd also be more likely to take action as they will be less intimidated and able to understand how to make their participation effective. We should be doing this in schools, in youth groups in churches, I don't really care where but it is a positive way to engage young people in the processes of our democracy.

Thoughts?

Any comments on the Throne speech get extra Crook Points (TM)