The political establishment must be putting people first

Last week marked the first anniversary of Donald Trump’s election as president of the United States.

The ensuing year has, without a doubt, been a wild one.

Republicans are suffering through the pangs of identity crisis as their own president tries to re-orient what it means to be an American conservative.

Trump himself has struggled to enact some of his election pledges in a timely manner, notably the overhaul of Obamacare and the construction of a wall along the U.S./Mexico border.

Meanwhile, Democrats remain apoplectic over their unexpected electoral loss. Instead of soul-searching, they remain mired in denial and defiance.

Instead of searching for ways to rebuild, they’re working overtime to destroy and discredit a president they despise, naively kidding themselves he’ll soon be impeached and oblivious to the division they’re sowing across America.

These conversations south of the border have, as they often do, elbowed their way into Canadian public discourse — frequently on divisive cultural issues and fuelled by the poisoned state of American politics.

We shouldn’t let ourselves get bogged down in these conversations.

Instead, we should remember our similarities matter more than our differences.

What matters most are the issues that bring us together.

There was one big thing that happened during the last presidential election that inspired not just Americans, but people in Canada and around the world: the idea of putting the people first.

There’s an incredible frustration today among regular people that the establishment and the political elites aren’t listening to them and not attentive to their needs and wishes.

This doesn’t just come across in the election of Trump. It partly explained Bernie Sanders’ initial momentum. It’s a non-partisan issue.

Today, politicians and insiders too often pander to special interests and agendas.

And when they get too caught up in them, they lose sight of regular people’s interests. It’s how government’s single-minded obsession with climate change results in carbon taxes and policy that will hurt regular folks and do little to nothing for the environment.

The Edelman Trust Barometer released in February revealed Canadian trust in the establishment has plummeted.

If the political class want the numbers to improve, they need to actually put the people first.