OBSTACLES to LIBERTY & PROSPERITY

The “political left’ has always had the “institutional advantage” in every election. Will the “free market” sector finally find its advantage under the inspiration of Frank Stronach?

A significant and memorable event

I recently attended an event hosted by The STRONACH FOUNDATION for ECONOMIC RIGHTS, A Coalition of Concerned Citizens. Held at the prestigious National Club in downtown Toronto, seating was provided for ~ 160 attendees who paid to partake in a fine luncheon meal and listen to Frank Stronach. The 91-year old legendary business icon shared his views on the economic challenges that contemporary entrepreneurs face to achieve significant success.

Frank recognizes that today’s entrepreneurs are being stifled at every turn by an overzealous public sector. This hurts every Canadian citizen.

Frank’s story of entrepreneurial success

Frank Stronach arrived in Canada in the 1950s with very little money and a strong work ethic. From a one-man tool and dye shop in the late 1950s, he steadily built a business empire which became Magna International employing 170,000 people to whom he referred as his “business partners”.

Magna’s ascent to one of the largest manufacturers in the automotive industry took place in a very different geo-political and socio-economic era than that of today. I greatly admire Frank as an unparalleled practitioner and champion of Capitalism at its best. Like him, I also lament the loss of the freedoms we once enjoyed to operate under a much smaller nanny-state in the bygone era.

Like so many seniors and elderly Canadians today, we feel fortunate to have enjoyed successful careers and a simpler life before a phalanx of government regulators and tax collectors imposed themselves as our “life coaches” and “business partners” whether invited or not.

REGENERATE CANADA

Printed boldly in red, this was the title of the handout received by everyone as they entered the dining room. It outlined the 7-point program the Frank envisions as key ways to restore Canada to the kind of civil society in which he feels blessed to have lived his wonderful life. As a senior citizen myself, I also recognize the many losses to our liberties about which his 7-point program attempts revive.

Observations

Please read Frank’s 7-point program.

Note how many points require significant changes to the POWERS and CONTROLS currently under the AUTHORITY of government institutions.

It is tempting to think that the desired changes can be readily achieved “by the will of the people through their elected representatives”. However, such wishful thinking must be followed up with a thorough understanding of what will be required in practice to achieve results.

What are those POWERS and CONTROLS?

How and why were they created? What will it take to modify them?

I have a simple understanding of ‘civics’ which goes like this.

Governments receive their POWERS to govern from the passage of laws which, as a topic concerning rule-making and enforcement, has long undergone much debate and scrutiny.

The lawmakers are elected representatives who are empowered to ‘speak behalf of’ between 75,000 and 150,000 citizens, their ‘constituents’, whenever decisions about the nature, scope and enforcement of laws are made. Each lawmaker gets this authority (aka ‘POWER’) upon winning the most recent election “popularity contest” in which the “electoral majority” (NOT the statical majority) entrusted him or her to create or modify laws as their proxy.

The enforcement of those laws, the “CONTROLS ”,  falls upon the millions of people who are employed within public institutions and compensated by taxpayers.

To carry out their enforcement duties as prescribed by any given law, “public servants” create policies, processes and procedures which are classified as ‘regulations’. These rules, plus the computer and networks that make them accessible, are the essential tools of all public sector workers.

The creation, maintenance, upgrading and operating of these tools is expensive, bureaucratic and time-consuming. This reality does not account for the additional costs associated with hiring, training, managing and paying every employee.

Enormous investments in human resources and other forms of capital have been made to build and sustain these edifices of POWER and CONTROL. Untold numbers of stakeholders who benefit from and depend upon them in countless ways explains why the STATUS QUO carries the day in most discussions about bringing about change where these forces dominate.

HOW?

My favourite question these days is HOW?

I offered the brief ‘civics lesson’ above for the simple reason that it identifies many of the challenges that must be overcome to achieve enduring changes. It’s possible to win a few minor political skirmishes, but these occasional victories will not win the war.

This is why the HOW question arises every time I see and hear an ambitious vision for societal change.

Little successes here and then have shown no significant progress towards restoring civil society and individual liberty in Canada.

Daunting

For me, the obstacles to enduring victory are formidable, and I wonder what will work to remove them?

For example, I wonder how lobbying my local elected officials - the Mayor, municipal Councillors, provincial MPPs or federal MPs - will bring the changes to the laws and regulations described above? Consider that my federal MP is just one of 338 who sit in Parliament, and my provincial MPP is only one of 124 in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario. Against so many competing interests, what chance do I have that my expressed concerns to my single representative will be heard much less considered or acted upon? At the municipal level, Council operates under the limited authorities allocated to them under the Municipal Act - a law created by and enforced by the provincial government. This law restrict my ward Councillor’s authority to act on my behalf in Council.

In other words, the ‘gatekeepers to change’ are many, and they are well-funded by public debt and taxation, and are greatlyvrestricted to what they can do on my behalf regarding laws and regulations. They are also subject to the influences of many stakeholders who have good cause to resist change.

On an optimistic note.

The name of Frank Stronach is certain to go a long way to open important doors. He has already received many honorary degrees and invitations to speak at universities, colleges and conferences over the years since stepping down from leading Magna.

Many smart and resourceful business leaders and innovative entrepreneurs may rally around the Stronach flag pole. Their collective resources and political voice may finally prove to provide a significant amount of pressure on the custodians of POWER and CONTROL. This has been missing in Canada’s political and economic realms for a very long time.

One thing is sure. Mr. Stronach’s legacy as a great Canadian is secure. I hope that it will serve to overcome many of the unprecedented obstacles to liberty and prosperity that face so many young Canadians today.