Encouraging voters to organise, march and rally in defence of their interests is always a healthy thing in a democracy, particularly a lethargic one like ours.

In theory, Bermudians are of course free to make their voices heard and their opinions known to their parliamentary representatives on any matter which concerns them.

But, in practice, civic engagement on the issues which shape our daily lives has largely come to mean the incendiary or uninformed online ramblings of Bermuda’s small army of keyboard warriors.

There are some issues which do, however, transcend the general apathy Bermudians have towards politics. And Immigration policy has always been a political lightning rod in modern Bermuda.

So the Shadow Immigration Minister’s call this week for direct action against new reforms which have been badly presented by Government — and very badly misrepresented by the Opposition — was almost certain to attract a large, agitated crowd to the Senate on Wednesday.

If Government wasn’t prepared for an exercise in street theatre with the potential to spill over into the Senate Chamber, it should have been.

In recent months the Shadow Minister has demonstrated himself to be the Island’s unbeaten political crowd-puller, one who can rally the troops on issues even as seemingly remote and abstruse as 90-year-old compulsory acquisition orders.

Then factor in the context and circumstances of this week’s demonstration.

The call for a protest came only after Opposition attempts to engineer a bipartisan approach to Immigration were rejected out of hand by Government. There’s some doubt as to the sincerity of those efforts. After all, the Opposition’s idea of cooperation amounted to unconditional Government surrender on all of the key points on long-term residency it wanted the new legislation to address.

But whether the Opposition was acting in the spirit of genuine conciliation or, as critics maintain, cynically mounting a go-through-the-motions exercise its leaders knew in advance would fail, the fact remains such an effort was made.

It was predictable the Opposition would point to the olive branch it had extended on Immigration being summarily rebuffed by Government, equally predictable Government would be painted as single-minded and unwilling to compromise on the issue. Predictable to everyone, it seems, but Government itself.

Cabinet appears to have been entirely wrong-footed by the ferocity and intensity of a protest which temporarily brought Senate business to a halt on Wednesday. While the contentious legislation which triggered the public outcry was eventually approved when the session resumed, the Opposition won the final battle in the public relations war surrounding the Immigration reforms just as it has prevailed in almost every previous skirmish.

After-the-fact griping about Opposition distortions and rent-a-mob tactics isn’t good enough. The onus is always on Government to communicate the intent and rationale of its policies, particularly when it comes to hot-button topics like Immigration.

Opposition criticism of the reforms may have been contrived — may indeed have been entirely manufactured on some points — but it was effective. And needed to be answered in brisk, compelling terms.

Frankly, Government’s failure to counter almost non-stop Opposition fault-finding on a consistent basis was much responsible for this week’s action as the Shadow Immigration Minister’s undoubted organisational skills.

For informing voters how Government policy decisions are intended to safeguard and advance their welfare is also a healthy thing in a democracy.

And effectively communicating the thinking behind policy shifts such as those involving Immigration will often preclude the need for people to organise, march and rally in defence of interests which actually aren’t under threat at all.