We know politics can be done better
I believe it is safe to say most Canadians are appalled and revolted at former American president Donald Trump’s behaviour.
He appears entirely bereft of any form of human decency. He is mendacious, narcissistic, crude and due to him American politics have sunk to levels of coarseness and lunacy never seen before. Canadians are thankful that our politics have avoided sinking to those levels.
But we cannot become smug or “holier than thou” as that may be changing here. Recently we have seen Pierre Poilievre, leader of the Conservative Party of Canada (CPC), refer to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as a wacko, a Marxist and a racist among other insults. Instead of such vitriol, why doesn’t Poilievre attack Trudeau’s economic record and demand Trudeau release a plan as to how the budget will be balanced?
Trudeau is also certainly no angel. Who can forget him calling then-Conservative Environment Minister Peter Kent, a piece of s--- in December 2011 in the House of Commons? Really Mr. Trudeau? You’d expect a comment like that in a schoolyard, not from a high-profile political figure right in Parliament.
Trudeau and the Liberals have accused Poilievre of being connected to white supremacists, of admiring Trump and the MAGA movement and plotting to take away women’s reproductive rights. Instead of making such outlandish accusations, how about pointing out that Poilievre and his party seem to have no policies or plan to govern?
On May 21, Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland accused Poilievre of wearing more makeup than she did. Freeland is possibly Trudeau’s most able and accomplished minister and considered to be a front-runner for the Liberal leadership when Trudeau steps down. This petty insult from her was quite beneath someone of her stature.
Canadians are not happy about this. Earlier this month Angus Reid released a poll showing that Canadians have never been as critical of the three major party leaders as they are today.
Is anyone surprised by these results? We must remember that political leaders represent all Canadians. And as such they must ensure their behaviour is not only above reproach at all times, but it must also always appear to be above reproach. And Trudeau and Poilievre have failed at this numerous times. New Democratic Party leader Jagmeet Singh has performed more admirably in so far as personal conduct is concerned compared to Trudeau and Poilievre. I believe his low rating in the Angus Reid poll is a result of Canadians not believing he is an effective leader.
You may ask why you should care about such a poll? You should care as these leaders make decisions that directly impact your life. Decisions as to how much taxes you will pay, how to deal with climate change, etc.
We need leaders we have confidence in and we cannot have confidence in leaders who act like unruly children. We have seen first-hand evidence of how effective a government led by someone incapable of acting like a dignified lady or gentleman is, with Trump. We all know how that turned out.
We have had wonderful examples in the past of successful highly refined leaders in Canada. Former Conservative prime minister Joe Clark was well known to be an extremely classy and dignified politician. Former Ontario premiers John Robarts and Bill Davis were renowned for their polished, respectable behaviour and for the extremely respectful manner in which they treated their opponents. We know politics can be done better as we have seen exactly that in the past.
Canadians need to reach out to their MPs and make it clear their tolerance for such juvenile and undignified behaviour is over. Let them know that politicians who behave in this manner will become unemployed after the next election. If enough of us do this, things will change.