Heather Scoffield: Hey Ottawa, there’s a pandemic. No one cares about your silly political games right now
Polemic politics are getting the best of us.
The personalized hatred between the and on Parliament Hill that was briefly, and helpfully, contained by the pandemic last spring has now burst into the open, driving the country repeatedly to the brink of an election despite the onset of a second wave of in many key ridings.
The Conservatives are taking any opportunity to call the Liberals corrupt. They threaten to demand personal information from family. Their leader, , accuses the prime minister of “playing a game with people’s lives.”
The Liberals, meanwhile, tie Parliament in knots with filibustering, prorogation, confidence votes and accusations of their own.
It’s almost as if there weren’t hospitals under strain in parts of the country, panicking families waiting days and days for test results, with COVID-19 digging its claws into big cities in Ontario and Quebec, prompting warnings from public health officers that we are heading in the devastating direction of Europe.
Of course, talented politicians can walk and chew gum at the same time, dealing with the pandemic even while hurling insults at each other.
The thing is, the standoff, the bitter words and the constant exaggeration seem to be the opposite of what many in the electorate need to hear right now.
Abacus Data did on-the-spot polling this week as the House of Commons brinksmanship played out, and found that and had low levels of engagement with the back-and-forth on the Hill.
“I don’t think the public is there,” said CEO David Coletto in an interview.
Instead, what he’s seen in his recent polling is that Canadians are preoccupied with dealing with the pandemic and its fallout, and have a thirst for collaboration.
“Right now, the anxiety is driven by this fear that we’re not working together enough,” he said.
In other words, the deep and impatient anger that the politicians are showing towards each other is just not reflected in society at large.
It might provide some comfort that at least our politics is less broken than that of our neighbours. Across the border, in that divided country and its dysfunctional government, we see a cautionary tale of the dangers of hyperpartisanship, particularly amid a pandemic. But in light of our own reckless game-playing this week, neither should we be smug. In the U.S., perhaps more than here, some are stepping up to show us that there are political dividends to embracing civility.
Joe Biden is campaigning hard as . If the public opinion polls are any indication, his approach has struck a chord.
And then there’s Utah, which has seized the attention of social media this week because to show voters all the subjects on which they agree.
“I think people are hungry for civility,” Democratic candidate Chris Peterson said in an interview. “I think it’s good politics as well as the right thing to do.”
By telling the public where the two opponents agree, they give voters a chance to better assess the areas where they differ, Peterson explains. And by taking the animosity out of the race, participation the political process becomes a more positive experience for the politicians and the voters alike.
There’s been some push back, he says, from partisans who thrive on personal attacks and insults. But most of the reaction has been akin to a sigh of relief.
It explains why, even as O’Toole brands all Liberals as corrupt and accuses Trudeau of gambling with people’s lives, he reminds us repeatedly that he is “reasonable” and “serious.”
And it may explain why there was some less-hateful, more-modest discourse in the air on Thursday in the aftermath of the near miss on tumbling into a bitter election campaign.
Instead of an anti-corruption inquiry targeting Trudeau’s family, the Conservatives are now proposing a broad investigation of how the federal government handled the public health aspects of the pandemic. Yes, it would mean a lot of paperwork and research, and lots of time and effort from a range of top officials and experts.
But the Liberals have agreed to negotiate a timeline and a framework, and the government is not about to fall over the title given to a parliamentary procedure.
Amid a profound health and economic crisis, Canadians want seriousness from their leaders; they want aid and guidance. After decades of declining trust and growing disinterest in government, politicians have a chance to prove their worth. Or they can play games, score inside-the-political-bubble points and confirm Canadians’ worst suspicions.
Peterson, for his part, was thrilled to be talking to Canadian media about the politics of civility, but he also sent us a gentle reminder of who we are when we’re not copying them.
“I enjoy your decency.”
Heather Scoffield is the Star’s Ottawa bureau chief and an economics columnist. Follow her on Twitter:
