By Gavin St Pier
A COUPLE of months ago, the fact that a number of politicians from Guernsey and Jersey had travelled in September to Ghana for a conference made news. Inevitably, perhaps, the focus was on the cost to the islands’ taxpayers. This genre of story is perennial and good clickbait for both news outlets and a certain band of their regular, irascible commentators. In response to media inquiry, the politicians and their officers scrabble around to provide a form of words in a media release that justifies the trip (and the expenditure). It’s reactive and so will always sound defensive.
For 11 years of my 11 years and six months as an elected politician I eschewed the opportunities offered up for trips that come from the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA), membership of which is conferred automatically on the thousands of elected members of parliaments and assemblies across the Commonwealth. Without having had any exposure to the CPA and its work, I presumed – as many members of the public do – that it’s simply a talking shop for aspiring or has-been politicians. For so long as I was a senior decision-maker for eight of those 11 years, I simply and dismissively concluded it wasn’t an institution that warranted my time. In the last six months, firmly into the ‘has-been’ politician category, perhaps proving my own previous analysis, I decided to give it a go and put myself forward as a Guernsey delegate to attend the annual conference of the CPA in Accra, Ghana.
Having attended my fair share of business conferences over the years, I know that these kinds of events always sound more glamorous to those not attending, than the experience is for those who do. The idea of meeting in another time and climate zone sounds exciting. The prospect of morning-to-evening free food gives it the air of an all-in-one resort. The promise of an upmarket conference hotel beckons. On the flip side, you are not spending time with family or friends. Instead, you spend an awful lot of time away from loved ones in close proximity either with people you do not know very well or even at all. The travel there and back, often within a short window, contains the same stresses and discomforts that all travellers experience, whatever their purpose or duration of travel. There is never sufficient time or flexibility to allow the delegates to travel and experience much beyond a very short distance from their conference location. The ‘cultural experiences’ which are often offered in limited available downtime, can be entertaining but in a polished, Disneyfied way that may not provide a true insight into the culture being experienced.
Delegates will, of course, be sure to remind you that conferences are tiring. This is true. The day starts early and often finishes very late, even before the shift put in by those who adjourn to a bar at the end of the evening, which is guaranteed to add to the fatigue.
But, more importantly, particularly in the context of the CPA or similar interactions funded by taxpayers, what do they achieve and are they worth it? Our post-pandemic world has learned that video conferencing is a vital tool that can save huge amounts of time and travel, but it really is no substitute for face-to-face meeting. Given that politics, domestic or international, and diplomacy are merely an extension of personal relationships, getting to know your counterparts requires time. Often the best, most interesting and productive conversations take place over food. However, it must be conceded that the chances for delegates from Guernsey and Jersey to break bread with delegates from Nova Scotia, Nigeria or Nauru are intangible. The opportunities to raise the profile of who (and where) we are and to dash the myths and misperceptions of our jurisdictions must be seized when offered. But the intangible alone could not justify the engagement.
Here my own scepticism of the tangible benefits of such a conference was, to my surprise, blown away. Continuing education ought to be a part of any role in any field of endeavour and politics should be no different. If you want politicians doing the best job they can, you want them informed and educated. For example, observing up close the very real tensions between those jurisdictions, such as Uganda, who in essence have criminalised homosexuality versus those, such as South Africa or Malta, who regard LGBT+ rights as fundamental to the values of the Commonwealth, was truly educational. That tension is not just an interesting sideshow to international relations but has increasing relevance to our own communities that we need to understand as we become more cosmopolitan, with our sources of labour become more diverse.
The real revelation though came with discussion on how different parliaments work. Whatever you are used to is your norm but appreciating that is not the norm for everyone is always interesting. There was a realisation that our parliaments in Jersey and Guernsey do not enjoy the same financial and administrative autonomy which most of our counterparts enjoy. Much of this is a legacy of our historical fusion of the legislative, executive and judicial branches of government. Although there has been some reform over the decades, we have honoured the requirement to separate out the judicial branch from the other two, rather more than the other way round. The Royal Court is not on a par with the States Assembly but retains effective primacy, not least with the chief justice, the Bailiff, acting as presiding officer. 20 years after the Commonwealth adopted the Latimer House Principles on the separation of powers to ensure effective governance and democracy, recognising that we have work to do in this regard was well worth travelling to Ghana. Now, to ensure taxpayers get value for money, the hard work at home begins.
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Gavin St Pier is a Guernsey politician. He previously served as the president of the island’s Policy and Resources Committee.
