We must be vigilant in our own politics
Don’t fret about the U.S. Let’s focus on us. There’s nothing to be done about the American presidential election. But there’s something to be said — and done — about our own politics closer to home.
U.S. voters, many of them faithbased, have taken a leap of faith with Donald Trump — despite his bad faith, bald-faced lies. But Torontonians are in no position to preach about the perils of following false messiahs. Been there, voted that. We elected Rob Ford in 2010 despite — or perhaps in defiance of — media coverage exposing how illsuited his mayoral ambitions were: undisciplined, intemperate, uncollegial, outrageous, egregious.
By 2014, we’d mended our ways and amended our votes, opting for civility over cynicism in Toronto’s next mayoral race. Again in 2015, Canadians elected a prime minister with a positive message of national unity that trumped divisiveness over national origin.
We learned from history municipally and then federally. What’s in our future provincially, in the wake of America’s overnight political earthquake?
Now it’s up to us to pay closer attention — not just to what politicians say, but whether their numbers add up, the facts pan out and the narrative has context.
The take-away from Trump’s victory is that crime pays. Or more precisely, that accusing an opponent of crimes — email or ephemeral — pays off for opposition politicians.
On the campaign trail, he excelled at deploying innuendo and leveraging the mass media to disseminate his allegations without context. The Trump taint stuck, demolishing public trust in Clinton’s character.
And we’re hearing an echo of it, increasingly, provincially.
Ontario’s next general election is 19 months away and the next pair of byelections is a week away. On cue, fanciful stories are being spread that Premier Kathleen Wynne personally oversaw a vast criminal empire brimming with unprecedented bribery, chicanery, union payoffs and billion-dollar scandals. Trump’s election distortions have reminded journalists everywhere that the corruption narrative is overly simplistic and easily amplified. But it’s not always reflective of reality, no matter how much voters lap it up.
All that said, Clinton didn’t just lose because of excessive innuendo, but a lack of inspiration, a paucity of vision and an absence of empathy. Above all, she was weighed down by the baggage of Democratic rule at a time when people were clamouring for regime change — cold comfort for Ontario’s Liberals after 13 years in power. Another parallel: America’s democracy is demographically divided — along class lines, education, race and geography. The socalled new economy is leaving old people behind, and they are lashing out. Many of those fault lines are emerging in Ontario, but an urbanrural divide poses the biggest challenge to the Liberals. Despite Wynne’s efforts to reach out — she took on the agriculture portfolio during her first year as premier — her party is relegated to the big cities and her personal popularity is plunging.
Don’t overlook ethnic divisions. Trump’s intolerance is being channelled by federal Conservative leadership candidate Kellie Leitch, who sent out a fundraising letter Wednesday hailing his victory: “It’s an exciting message and one that we need delivered in Canada,” she wrote, reminding Tories of her plan to “ensure that every visitor, immigrant and refugee will be screened for Canadian values.”
In Ontario, Progressive Conservative Leader Patrick Brown has so far gone in the other direction. Brown reached out to ethnic groups during his provincial leadership campaign, but must expand that outreach if he is serious about becoming premier. The best way to inoculate himself against Trump’s intolerance, while distancing himself from Leitch’s loose language, is to embrace diversity across the province — not just racial and religious, but gender orientation.
As Opposition leader, Brown could broaden his vision by showing greater tolerance — not only of people, but politics itself. Rather than normalizing Trump’s smear tactics, can Ontario’s Tories go beyond criminalizing their opponents — developing a serious agenda to govern ahead of the next provincial campaign?
Against that backdrop, consider this advice to all MPPs from Deborah Deller, the clerk of the legislature, upon her retirement last month. Pointing to the architectural flourishes looming over the chamber’s archways, she offered a lesson in Ontario’s tradition of political tolerance: “The owl in the centre of those two archways is an owl that looks down on the government. It’s an owl that is there to remind those members that sit on the government side to govern wisely. The eagle in the centre of the arches on the opposite gallery faces the Opposition, and it’s there to remind those of you that sit on the opposition side to be vigilant. Those are the roles you play, but they are interactive roles. The motto of this place is, ‘Hear the other side.’ ”
Wise advice in a week when the American eagle is under the gun. Martin Regg Cohn’s political column appears Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. mcohn@thestar.ca, Twitter: @reggcohn