View From the Legislature

The Peaceful Transition of Power

  • Kelvin Goertzen, Author
  • Member of the Legislative Assembly, Steinbach

The peaceful transition of power. It is something that those of us who live in western democracies have largely taken for granted. We perform our civic duty of voting on election day and then, almost automatically, the winning party assumes power.

For those of us who have been privileged to watch this process up close, there is almost something magical about it. After a long campaign and often years of bitter political rivalry, political opponents put aside their differences and, for the betterment of democracy, ensure that power either transfers or continues (depending on the election outcome), peacefully.

I have seen this transition of power take place from a few different vantage points. In 1999, following the defeat of the Gary Filmon Progressive Conservative government I observed as a campaign worker how Mr. Filmon graciously supported the new incoming Premier, Gary Doer, as the NDP transitioned into power. This despite the decade long political rivalry that existed between those two leaders. Then, in 2016, I had the unique opportunity as a member of the incoming provincial Cabinet to see the transition of power from that perspective. Not only did outgoing Premier Greg Selinger provide gracious welcome to incoming Premier Brian Pallister but I also, as a Minister, benefited from this democratic tradition. As the new Minister of Health I received several calls from former Ministers of Health, both P.C. and NDP, who offered me their advice and words of encouragement.

This is a part of the democratic process that the public, unfortunately, does not see enough of. The willingness to, after a hotly contested often controversial campaign, accept the results of an election and support a rival in the transition is not always an easy thing to do. But it is a necessary thing to do. It recognizes that we as participants in the democratic process are only temporary guardians of the office and that we have a responsibility to protect the democratic principles on which it rests.

On Tuesday of this week, I had the opportunity to have a virtual meeting with the new United States Consul General stationed in Winnipeg Bryan Koontz. We talked about the strong economic and social ties between our countries but also the strong democratic ties. As the United States goes through a very divided and difficult political season in the history of its nation Canada and many countries have a stake in the ongoing strong and stable nature of the U.S. democracy.

As Winston Churchill once reminded us, democracy can be a messy affair. It can be divisive, and it can be at times hurtful. But it remains, despite all its flaws, the best form of government that we have. And it needs to be protected, especially by those that have been able to be active participants in it.