{"id":7939,"date":"2014-08-27T17:41:02","date_gmt":"2014-08-27T21:41:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/?p=7939"},"modified":"2014-09-04T23:58:24","modified_gmt":"2014-09-05T03:58:24","slug":"politics-as-usual-openness-and-transparency","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/politics-as-usual-openness-and-transparency\/","title":{"rendered":"POLITICS AS USUAL: Openness and Transparency"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Alison Collins-Mrakas<\/strong><\/p>\n

Do you ever feel that our fearless leaders are all speaking the same language, spouting the same words, but not really saying anything because when you get right down to it, none of it makes any sense?
\nI can say with confidence that you are most assuredly not alone. Much like bureaucratese in the public service sector, politicians use their own vocabulary of consultant-developed, focus-group tested words that give them the ability to talk for hours on end while literally saying nothing of substance at all.
\nBy deftly deploying terms and terminology from their arsenal of banalities, even the lowliest of backbenchers is a master in the high art of exquisite equivocation; that seemingly wondrous ability to answer a question without answering a question; to not tell a lie, but not tell a truth either.
\nFrom political pundits to politicians of every ilk, everyone and anyone uses the same lingo, over and over and over, to mind numbing effect. Listen to any stump speech or interview given by any candidate and it will be peppered with the same language that both vaguely promises and vaguely castigates \u201csomething\u201d without ever defining what that \u201csomething\u201d is.
\nIt sounds good, but it is style passing as substance. And we lap it up because there\u2019s nothing else to eat.
\nIt\u2019s not just the obfuscation though that irks. It\u2019s the sledgehammer approach to debate that is most grating. By this I mean the current tactic of the deliberate over-use of a handful of phrases to drive home \u2013 with a nail gun \u2013 whatever point is supposedly being made.
\nAn example?
\nI watched a recent episode of Power and Politics with a current MP as guest. This NDP talking head used the words, \u201cpartisan\u201d and \u201ckangaroo court\u201d 12 times in 9 minutes (yes I counted!) in describing the antics of the Board of Internal Economy. Whether or not the criticisms were justified is beside the point. The message was lost \u2013 for me at least \u2013 in the miasma of political-speak.
\nEach level of government has its own unique lexicon, with varying degrees of absurdity. At the municipal level, things often devolve into the truly silly. Case in point? The current, absolute obsession with the need for \u201copen and transparent\u201d government.
\nEveryone promises more \u201copen and transparent government.\u201d We need greater \u201copenness and transparency\u201d at the Council table. I used it myself when I was a Councillor \u2013 though more ironically than was recognized at the time.
\nWhat does that phrase even mean, I wonder. I seriously doubt those that incessantly spout the \u201cneed\u201d for it even comprehend its meaning. Or care to, frankly.
\nI must confess that every time I hear someone say it \u2013 and it does seem to be the same folks who use the term ad nauseum \u2013 I can\u2019t help but think of the movie The Princess Bride. In the movie, Vizzini uses the term \u201cinconceivable\u201d at every turn, to which, finally, a quizzical Inigo Montoya says, \u201cYou keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.\u201d
\nIt\u2019s funny, but it\u2019s true.
\nIf, as the strident voices tell us, we need more \u201copen and transparent\u201d government, does that mean then that what we currently have is closed and opaque? Shuttered and murky? Sealed and cloudy?
\nOr does its usage have nothing to do with meaning and everything to do with implication?
\nBingo! We have a winner! The \u201cneed\u201d for open and transparent government is necessarily premised on the implication that our current government and those that occupy it are somehow not. That they are secretive, or obstructive, or dishonest.
\nIt\u2019s a political smear dressed up as a principled stance.
\nMuch like the use of anonymous bogeymen.<\/p>\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Alison Collins-Mrakas Do you ever feel that our fearless leaders are all speaking the same language, spouting the same words, but not really saying anything because when you get right down to it, none of it makes any sense? I can say with confidence that you are most assuredly not alone. Much like bureaucratese […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7939","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-archive"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3D2k4-243","publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-06 16:38:54","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7939","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7939"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7939\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7939"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7939"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7939"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}