There was a time when an understanding of basic Canadian government process was something kids were taught in school.
Now, that doesn’t seem to be the case.
A federal politician should understand enough about the Canadian constitution to recognize where constitutional responsibilities lie — that, for example, while the federal government transfers money to the provinces for health care, where that money is spent (and even if it’s spent on health care at all) is a decision made by the provinces themselves. The state of provincial health care is not solely the responsibility of the prime minister.
Voters should know that, too.
But you wouldn’t know that from the current political scene in Canada.
What’s become abundantly clear is that there are all too many politicians who are willing to tell you exactly what you want to hear, no matter how outrageous or inaccurate it is.
It then gets echoed by media outlets willing to pander to those views for internet clicks or online reader engagement.
The bottom line?
When things aren’t going the way someone wants — when they aren’t making what they want or can’t buy the things they need or feel that they are owed — the easy default is to blame someone else.
People are dying to be told that the fault for their particular lot in life lies elsewhere — and there are politicians ready, willing and able to take advantage of that. And a segment of society is gleeful soaking up the calculated campaign that everything is someone else’s fault. (I think this is all part and parcel of the death of personal responsibility in the western world, but that’s a commentary for another day.)
It’s also a very dangerous feedback loop.
Why?
Because the basic fundamentals of the economy don’t change simply because there’s a new sheriff in town, or a new prime minister in Ottawa. Transit systems in major cities don’t magically become safer, and world-wide interest rates don’t spontaneously fall because a nation with 0.48 per cent of the world’s population has a new government.
But that doesn’t stop people from wanting to pretend otherwise.
Have a look at this motion put forward by the federal Conservatives in the House of Commons earlier this month. Seriously, take the time to read the whole thing: it’s the ultimate in an everything-but-the-kitchen-sink airing of the grievances.
“That, given that, after eight years of this Liberal Prime Minister, inflation is at a 40-year high, after eight years of this Liberal Prime Minister, the cost of groceries is up 11per cent, after eight years of this Liberal Prime Minister, half of Canadians are cutting back on groceries, after eight years of this Liberal Prime Minister, 20 per cent of Canadians are skipping meals, after eight years of this Liberal Prime Minister, the average rent for a two-bedroom apartment across Canada’s 10 biggest cities is $2,213 per month, compared to $1,171 per month in 2015, after eight years of this Liberal Prime Minister, 45 per cent of variable rate mortgage holders say they will have to sell or vacate their homes in less than nine months due to current interest rate levels, after eight years of this Liberal Prime Minister, average monthly mortgage costs have more than doubled and now cost Canadians over $3,000 per month, the Governor of the Bank of Canada, Tiff Macklem, has said that ‘inflation in Canada increasingly reflects what’s happening in Canada’, the former Governor of the Bank of Canada, Mark Carney, has said: ‘But really now inflation is principally a domestic story’, former Liberal finance minister, Bill Morneau, has said that the government probably spent too much during COVID, former Liberal Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister, John Manley, said that the Liberal Prime Minister’s fiscal policy is making it harder to contain inflation, the House call on the government to cap spending, cut waste, fire high-priced consultants and eliminate inflationary deficits and taxes that have caused a cost-of-living crisis for Canadians.”
It’s an absolute grab-bag of hot-button issues, and it enables an opposition party to say to the public that “we understand you’re hurting and we’re doing something.”
But in reality, it’s only theatre.
This is not a legislative plan — it solves nothing and proposes nothing. Well, it proposes capping spending and eliminating deficits while at the same time cutting taxes — an interesting magic trick that I’m not sure any government has actually achieved.
And yet, I’m sure that as the political process moves on, tenets of the sort spelled out in that motion will gain traction (as they are regularly repeated), and some voters will hang their hopes, tragically, on the idea that politicians will solve all their problems for them.
I get that we’re in the post-truth era — that, now, what matters is that there are so many different media outlets (credible and otherwise) trumpeting a vast range of different ideologies that you can simply pick the one you like, the one most closely aligned with what you already believe, and ignore the ones that pose uncomfortable, messy questions that you don’t want to answer.
But, as an electorate, we have to be able to talk frankly, honestly about divisive issues without devolving almost immediately into insults and finger-pointing.
And we have to understand that governments can’t magically fix things — even when politicians tell you that, if they’re elected, they can.