I never thought the possibility of the unthinkable would ever be so possible and thinkable. How can a government shut down?
Generally, I prefer to comment on the Canadian political system, but I couldn’t help take note of the US government shutdown because I was there. In Washington, D.C. I encountered the excitement, nervousness and uneasy feeling of those who knew they could be affected. I could feel people’s frustration with American lawmakers who debated until the final hour with no compromise in sight.
While I was in no way affected to the same extent as Americans, I had bet, incorrectly, that I could get through my trip to Washington unscathed.
Weeks in advance, I planned a trip to the National Archives and Records Administration for research, thinking I could enjoy myself and get a serious amount of work completed. It was not a free trip, as I had no research grant, so I stayed with a friend and was prepared to spend a lot of money on photocopying and scanning. I spent the weekend enjoying the classic tours of Washington museums, but it was hard to ignore the discussion on CNN as the possibility of a shutdown seemed imminent.
In the political science department at Queen’s University where I am doing a Masters, the MA students joked that I would be fine. We figured the debate would continue until the deadline but then an eleventh-hour compromise would prevent the halt of government departments. The United States government is the largest employer in the U.S. with more than 800,000 employees; a shutdown would be economically devastating, particularly to a state that is dealing with massive debt.
On Sept. 30, I was in the archives rushing away. There was no time for lunch. You couldn’t help but overhear the discussion among employees and patrons about the uncertainty of the following day. Nobody wanted the next day off and arranging for short-notice paid vacation to take effect over the coming days was impossible; anyone who attempted would be in trouble. It wasn’t until around midnight that an automatic email and call service would deliver the news to employees to stay home.
I found out at 5:30 a.m. the next morning that I was out of luck. The archives were closed. CNN had proclaimed “DAY ONE OF SHUTDOWN” and as I headed home on a flight that night I assumed the shutdown would last maybe a week.
However, departments in Washington have just returned and services restarted. Thankfully the government will compensate those that were off work without income, but a huge number of people were affected by the standstill of services. Millions of dollars will be needed to restart the momentum of a government that has sat idle for so long, which means that at the end of the day the cost of the shutdown comes back to the taxpayers.
Now you may wonder if this is possible in Canada. The answer is pretty much no. We are currently experiencing the reverse of the U.S. system, since our legislative branch is suspended but our government continues. If budgets don’t pass in Canada, elections are immediately called or another party takes power. While our government is not currently held responsible for its decisions, Canadians are unmoved since our services are so far unaffected.
On day one of the shutdown, I could not help but feel the irony as I walked by the Capitol building, which sits next to a memorial tower with bells that keep time. Presented by the people of the United States to Congress, it echoed the words of former Senator Robert A. Taft, “Let us see that the state is the servant of its people and that the people are not the servants of the state.” Though the bells rang every half hour, the toll and its message went unheard at the Capitol.
Christopher Radojewski is the Political Correspondent for the Fulcrum and also writes for the Queen’s Journal in Kingston. You can follow him @chrisradojewski on Twitter.
