Why Politicians Lost the Confidence of Canadian Voters, and How They Can Get It Back
How can our democratic governance work if we, the people, have lost faith in the system?
It’s hardly a startling revelation to suggest that, to a large degree, politicians have lost the confidence of Canadian voters. This has resulted in dangerously low voter turnout at election time and, not surprisingly, a general distrust of anyone who holds elected office at any level of government.
It’s a serious problem. How can our democratic form of governance work if we, the people, have lost faith in the system and lost confidence and respect for those who hold public office?
Over my many years doing talk radio in Southern Ontario, I heard the frustration of voters: Why bother to vote? Politicians are all the same anyway. They promise the sun, the moon, and the stars during an election, but time and time again, fail to deliver once they’re in power.
To be fair, there is no ‘one reason’ why we’ve slipped into this vortex of skepticism, but two of the most obvious factors are the weaponization of social media by politicians to spread misinformation and vitriol about their opponents, and frankly, the inability—or just plain laziness—on the part of many politicians to connect with voters.
Without question, my favourite politician of all time was Lincoln Alexander, a former Lieutenant-Governor of Ontario, former federal Cabinet Minister, and longtime Member of Parliament from Hamilton. I first met Linc when I was in college, and he was a relatively new MP for Hamilton West. As we carved our own individual career paths over the years, we remained lifelong friends.
Linc’s superpower as a politician was his ability to connect with people. When he talked to you—whether at a function or a chance meeting on the street—he always looked you in the eye and made you feel like you were the most important person he would meet that day.
Contrast that kind of sincerity with many of today’s politicians, who show up to an event just long enough to address the crowd with a litany of their pre-arranged talking points and then slide out the side door, spending as little time as possible talking to, and listening to, their voters.
I know that these days we are slavishly reliant on social media platforms to communicate with each other, but those who hold public office must realize that personal interaction is the best way to build trust between politician and voter.
I don’t know how many times people have told me that they were shocked and surprised their city councillor, MP, or MPP actually took the time to listen to their concerns. That kind of communication creates a feeling that somebody cares about what I’m going through and understands my concern.
But it’s not only the voter who can benefit from such action. It also gives the politician an opportunity to explain the issues and solutions to those issues in a much more personal manner than an email blast or newsletter.
The late, great Tip O’Neill, a U.S. Congressman from Boston, made a very profound observation that today’s politicians seem to have forgotten. O’Neill said that “all politics is local.” In other words, it’s the job of the politician to explain—not just the important issues of the day—but, more importantly, how those issues affect the average citizen.
Many people are simply not aware that what’s happening in Ukraine, or the South China Sea can have an impact on the cost of groceries and fuel here at home.
Why should someone who lives in Hamilton or Winnipeg care if Trump puts tariffs on Canadian goods? Why should we care that foreign countries are trying to influence our elections? Why do my property taxes keep increasing? Why can’t we find a family doctor?
Frustrated citizens want answers, and it should be the responsibility of the elected officials to explain what’s happening and why it matters to all of us. But too many politicians don’t explain; instead, they play the blame game and try to score political points by denigrating their rivals.
That kind of juvenile behavior may resonate with the hardcore supporters of the main political parties, but what they seem to forget—or worse, don’t care about—is that the overwhelming majority of Canadian voters don’t belong to any political party. They want our politicians to start working for the people, not their political bosses.
We elect every MP, MPP, and local councillor to work in our best interests, and it’s clearly obvious that most Canadians feel our politicians have lost sight of that responsibility.
So, how do we fix that problem ?
First of all, we have to be more diligent about who we elect. Let’s acknowledge that unfortunately, there are some, shall we say, ‘less than worthy’ people in government, and that’s our fault! We used to demand honesty and integrity from our politicians, and we need to re-establish those standards.
To build back trust between politicians and the public, we need to set the bar higher for politicians and remind them who they work for.
Politicians these days, for the most part, make a pretty good living these days. Salaries and benefits and pension plans are sometimes twice or even three times higher than the average middle class Canadian takes home, and I, for one, don’t have a problem with that, IF they take their immense responsibilities seriously. Most do, but there are some freeloaders who collect the benefits but don’t put in the work. It may only be a few, but, in these challenging times, even one, is one too many!
Our job is to elect capable and honest people to represent us. There’s an old Turkish proverb that states;
When a clown moves into a palace
He doesn’t become a King
The Kingdom becomes a circus
We can’t let that happen here.
After all, as Hemingway said: Ultimately, we get the government we deserve!'
Let’s keep the dialogue going: What do you think?