The current session of Canada’s 42nd Parliament has been a nasty one. Members on both sides have invested more effort arguing over scandals, real or imagined, than they have debating measures that would benefit the people who sent them to Ottawa.

It is only going to get worse in the four weeks that remain before Parliament Hill shuts down for the summer. A mountain of legislation – some major, some minor, some as long as two years in the queue – is still waiting for approval by the Commons or the Senate.

There is an even chance that, when voters in Newfoundland and Labrador go to the polls in their provincial election on Thursday, they will give the boot to the four-year-old Liberal government of Premier Dwight Ball and elect the Progressive Conservatives under Ches Crosbie.

A national election campaign is, or should be, the centrepiece of our democratic system, a time when great and important ideas – policies vital to the nation’s future – are debated before the jury of electors.

That’s the theory. In practice, big ideas make most political leaders nervous, especially during elections. They find it expedient to narrow their focus, to emphasize proposals with immediate or short-term electoral appeal, and to expend their energy on attacking their opponents.  

The current 2019 exercise in democracy is following the familiar pattern.

Tiger Woods’s return to the pinnacle of sport, capturing the 2019 Masters championship after 11 years in golf’s wilderness, is an inspiration for anyone who struggles against adversity – including, I venture, some of today’s political leaders.