Alberta’s recall petitions will likely fail, but they are good for democracy

Finally, the legitimacy of recall petitions shouldn’t be limited to reasons that politicians deem acceptable, contrary to what Premier Smith and former Premier Kenney may believe. Disagreeing with a politician over their voting record or policy stances is precisely the sort of thing they should be recalled over, provided a majority of constituents agree. Alberta Minister of Education and Childcare Demetrios Nicolaides, subject to a recall petition himself, said it best that recall “should be available with no strings attached . . . recall should be legislated at all levels of government.” The arguments against recall Despite the benefits of recall power, there are some common arguments to consider. One argument against recall is that it makes politicians afraid to make necessary, if unpopular, policy decisions. We know from research that politicians tend to have a more dismal view of their constituents than constituents themselves. This misunderstands accountability and risks patronizing voters as overly parochial and myopic. In cases where voters have fundamental disagreements with their representatives, they should not be limited to waiting until the next election to respond. Another criticism, one taken up by the UCP, is that recall petitions can be weaponized by special interests or people who do not reflect the majority of their fellow constituents. This is only a serious concern when the threshold for recall is low. It’s hard to argue it’s too low in Alberta. If anything, it’s a bit too high. Finally, there is concern about outside forces or bad actors influencing recall petitions and distorting democracy. While I agree that this is an important risk, it exists in every part of our political system, including regular elections. Recall petitions don’t create that problem, and I am skeptical that the demanding recall process would be more likely than other democratic forums to be distorted. A well-designed recall system, like Alberta’s, makes the tradeoff between these issues and the democratic benefits more than worth it. While academic research on recall petitions is limited, a 2020 study found that having this power improved voters’ perceptions of democratic legitimacy. It’s time that the rest of Canada got around to introducing recall legislation. All Canadians should have the power to recall their representatives It seems that citizens and politicians have lost sight of a central fact of our democracy: politicians work for the people they represent. They serve as our representatives because we have chosen them. We should be able to review their work and have a serious debate about dismissing them if enough of us don’t feel represented. We should want our governments to have a healthy fear of being kicked out by their constituents, and we should care about whether we have that ability between elections. The fact that politicians can change those rules as they see fit is absurd. Alberta’s recall petitions may fail, but they are good for democracy.