In 1993 the government of Ralph Klein cut government spending, including in education, by five percent. Exhausted by their own howling, the Calgary Board of Education (CBE) asked parents to describe how the cuts were impacting their childrens' education. I compiled data from two decades of CBE Annual Reports and argued that the CBE could cut a lot more than 5 percent. Its annual expenses, which were highly correlated to oil prices, had outpaced inflation. Based on their own data, the number of CBE students had flatlined, the pupil:teacher ratio had not changed, and student outcomes had not improved. My argument was that the obvious growth in administrative staff was not warranted and so overheads should be cut. At this point my microphone was cut off.In 1994, I was invited to run for election to the CBE with five other concerned parents. Four of them were women and two of them were visible minorities. Ours was a forlorn hope in the manner of Horatius at the bridge mostly because voter turnout in school board elections is always low and the teachers' union can muster a majority of votes. It is not nefarious; it is just the way it is — unless parents are upset and show up to vote.Our group decided to improve name recognition by gaining notoriety in the news. In this we were superstars. We made the front page of the Globe and Mail, were interviewed on the CTV national morning program, sat with the editorial board of the Calgary Herald and generated several stories and opinion pieces in the Calgary Sun.Because we ran as a loose association and because we were prescriptive in the policies that we presented in our platform, we were branded as “nazis” and "fascists". The epithets were startling and stinging at first but then became humorous and we had fun rebutting the obvious idiocy in our responsive op-eds. .We didn’t come close to electing anyone to the CBE but had a wonderful time losing. And I flatter our efforts by stating that we paved the way for our current premier to win a seat on the Board in a subsequent election. Perhaps I claim too much.The point of all this is that political name calling is not a new phenomenon, and the Nazi epithet has been lofted at political opponents for at least thirty years. It is now getting a bit old, and the impact is much diminished.This was demonstrated when Hillary Clinton suggested that Mr. Trump’s recent rally at Madison Square Garden was a reenactment of a Nazi rally in 1938. The massive crowd that turned out didn’t seem to care. It didn’t help Ms. Clinton’s argument that her appeal to “save democracy” was made from within a party that had just organized a coup and replaced its duly elected presidential candidate with someone who had never obtained a vote. In the Canadian context, we will have a full election calendar in 2025. It seems unlikely that the self-interested rantings of a group of backbenchers will cause Mr. Trudeau to step down as Liberal party leader and I am not betting on the Bloc Quebecois. Certainly, we will also have municipal elections. Next year is going to be a raucous lollapalooza and loads of people are going to accuse loads of other people of being Nazis and fascists and communists and just generally bad people. Put your hand up if you want to put yourself through that emotional meat grinder.But here is the good news. Voters no longer believe these kinds of accusations and it can be fun pointing out to the press and audiences that “names will never hurt me and so consider the source”. People who toss out these kinds of soporific, puerile and stupid ad hominems in the absence of irrefutable proof of their claims are themselves unsuitable for public discourse, much less public office. Increasingly it is ok to tell them so.My advice to anyone considering a run for public office, therefore, is to ensure that they are not a Nazi and then enter the political forum fully girded as a happy warrior. Running for such office remains a noble pursuit despite rhetorical abuse. You meet interesting people and can test yourself against a challenge that is both worthy and formidable. Stick to the issues, ignore the idiots and have fun. The new year promises great entertainment for all Canadians.
