Democracy Is Alive and Kicking

The last few years have given Democracy a rough ride. But last week, Robin Sears writes, we learned that Democracy is not down for the count:

Early on Tuesday, by an unanimous 11-0 decision the United Kingdom Supreme Court smacked down Prime Minister Boris Johnson, declaring in the most searing language that he had broken the law, and by implication had lied to the Queen, about his motives for seeking an unheard of one month and one-week long suspension of Parliament — on the very brink of the most momentous decision it will make in this century.

In the chilling understated tones that only a certain kind of Brit can muster, Chief Justice Lord Hale, dubbed Boris Johnson a fraud. With painfully slow and brittle enunciation, she devastated the reputation of the prime minister as a foolish grifter. It was an unprecedented finding, not seen, as Justice Hale said, since the 17th century.

Her decision meant the prorogation had never happened and MPs went back to work the next day pummelling the embattled prime minister. It was their collective declaration of the supremacy of Parliament, abetted by their ferocious and funny speaker, John Bercow, that had provoked Boris into trying the shutdown ploy.

And, twelve hours later, Nancy Pelosi informed Donald Trump that he faced impeachment. She declared that:

Trump had abused his office, broken the law, and announced the launch of formal impeachment proceedings against him.

It is only the third time in U.S. history this has taken place, as Nixon resigned before he could be impeached. But like Nixon, this president seems destined to fall on his attempted coverup of a hilariously inept attempt to find dirt on his opponent. Like someone who had watched “The Godfather” once too often, Trump had growled to the Ukrainian president he had better “make up dirt on Biden” — or else.

These two explosions were not bad for a day’s work by institutions — the courts and the legislature — that were said to be crumbling. They demonstrated their resilience and that they remain the bulwark of democracy on each side of the Atlantic.

These are still dark days. Both Johnson and Trump have a truly stunning list of enablers. Nonetheless, there are several lessons that everyone -- particularly Canadians -- should take to heart:

First, is that the executive branch of government is not all-powerful, if government and opposition MPs are willing to assert their authority. If we have a minority government after Oct. 21, the members, new and old, might want to consider how they can quickly establish their sovereignty, similar to the astonishing revolt by the U.K. backbench.

A second lesson, especially for our politicians, is: Think twice before trying to rope judges into your partisan agenda — you might get badly bitten. The scrofulous trickster who is using taxpayer millions and the official public inquiry system in his province to blacken his opponents, has also gathered a group of credulous premiers to support his attempt to bring our Supreme Court into his climate denial cabal.

His lawyers should have pointed out the fate of these kinds of legal charades. Our Supremes will once again assert the right of the Government of Canada to govern on issues of national importance, especially ones of national security, like the climate crisis.

What does all this mean for Johnson and Trump? Both men may be headed for the exits -- much sooner than they or their enablers ever imagined.

Image: theatlantic.com