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Sunday, March 3, 2019

Tough Times in Canadian Politics

One of the basic tendencies of Trumpian politics is that when the GOP is accused of something, they say what about Hillary's emails or Bill's sexual assault or whatever.  And I get that, so when I try to keep that in mind as I ponder the conundrum in Canadian politics: as the election nears, will folks be turned off more by Justin Trudeau pushing the Attorney General to give the wildly corrupt SNC-Lavalin firm (too big to prosecute?) a break or by Andrew Scheer, leader of the Conservatives, dabbling with the toxic brew that is white supremacy?

It might seem to be whataboutism to raise Scheer's dalliances with the darkest side while Justin Trudeau is struggling with a corruption scandal BUT they are happening at the same time.  So, it is not digging from something to draw a false equivalency, but seriously considering which is worse--violating the rule of law a bit or pandering to racists just a bit?

I asked my twitter followers (who are hardly a random sample) and they spoke thusly:

Many more found Scheer's speaking at the racist rally (Yellow Vest and the Convoy are chock full of far right xenophobes, racists, and other "deplorables", not to mention conspiracy theorists) to be worse than what Trudeau did.  I was expecting a bit more of an even tally, as Trudeau has greatly disappointed not just his base but also the left wing of the political spectrum who rallied to him nearly four years ago and have felt burned (electoral reform?) ever since.

How to make sense of this, other than, again, the selection bias of those answering my twitter poll?  I think fears of "populism"--the use of ethnic and other divisions to get ahead and Trump's example (as well as Brexit and others)--is more disturbing because Canadians (and those elsewhere who responded to my survey) are worried that what is going in the rest of the world could happen here.  That with a very heterogeneous society, mostly proud of its multicultural heritage, resorting to hate will be quite destructive.  Hate crimes don't just happen in the US--they happen here in Canada, too.  Having the major alternative party pander to these worse instincts is most alarming.  This is not a one-off event as the Conservative Party has been consorting with Rebel Media, which is kind of like the Breitbart of Canada.  And the Conservatives are being outflanked by the People's Party of Canada--an effort by a Conservative politician to develop his own party largely based on xenophobia.  So, the concern here is great.

Whereas the Liberal Party acting entitled and making dumb decisions that abuse their power--well, that is nothing new in Canada.  Canada has survived that dynamic more than a couple of times and done ok.  It is a known reality, so it is less alarming.  Also, the impact is less widespread--giving SNC-Lavalin a break is not going to lead to many additional firms acting corruptly.  Some might, but it is unlikely to lead to anything that endangers political stability or individuals, at least compared to the Conservatives playing up white supremacy.  Inciting hatred does indeed incite violence, and people do get hurt.

So, my followers may tend to be Liberal supporters since I am a middle of the road kind of person (middle in Canada, not so middle in the US), so maybe this is all about bias, but I can't help but think that, yes, I'd rather have a mildly corrupt party in power that appeals to all groups than one that is seeking white nationalist votes.  The good thing about the American situation is that you can have both--a corrupt administration that is quite racist.  Oh wait.  That sucks.

Anyhow, this all bears watching.  The strange thing is that I can identify three rules in Canadian politics, and two of the major parties violated two of them bigly:
1.  The Liberals should avoid any taint of corruption since that is what brings down the party again and again.
2.  The Conservatives have to avoid xenophobic and racist appeals since they need the votes of newer Canadians in Toronto and elsewhere.
3.  Avoid constitutional amendments and referendums.


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