When Politics Pulls People Apart

Canadians take their politics like they do their coffee, predictable with a manageable line to vote and a few easy to remember logos. That is until recently. While the last election federal election cycle in September saw more protesting, some gravel throwing and much more angry statements it was only beginning to show the signs of division we’ve seen this month. 

Politics isn’t the plot line of TV shows in Canada. Except for a movie based on Rob Ford’s staffers there hasn’t been anything like The West Wing, Veep or Primary Colours. Registering with a party is not as standard as in the USA, and Canadians may only vote on election day. Have you ever attended a protest? I know that my first one was over the Muslim Ban proposed by the Trump government.
Now my first political campaign? Pre social media and I was likely 15 or so, and I have campaigned at the federal, provincial and municipal levels for candidates, and even myself in 2018. 

“The pandemic has exposed rifts in relationships we never thought to explore, most of us never worried about how our friends and family regarded public health.”

What’s different right now?
Anger.
.While you used to worry about safety when you canvassed, it was a passing thought, don’t go inside the house. Now? Campaigns need to understand how to call the police if there are threats against a candidate, we need to think about bystander training and how to deescalate situations. None of that is helping us to build a better community together, in fact fear isn’t going to help us hear the other point of view either. 

These emotional responses are on full display on social media in part due to the bubble created by messages validating our own point of view. We may have fact checkers but are we using them or are we using fake news to describe what we don’t like?
That old saying about a lie getting across the world before the truth can get its shoes on has never been truer. 

The pandemic has exposed rifts in relationships we never thought to explore, most of us never worried about how our friends and family regarded public health. Ordinarily, we probably didn’t care to much how they voted. Suddenly we are combining health care, politics and how we feel about showing id in bars and not to verify our age. Albert Einstein said, “Politics is more difficult than physics” and as we watch the events in Ottawa unfold, we can see that coming to life. However, this week brings more violence at constituency offices, including here in Mississauga. When did arson become how to express your point of view? That’s not peaceful, its not a protest and it isn’t political. 

“We need to work more towards an approach that is not about us as individuals but our collective community. ”

The lasting question is how we rebuild bridges to reach those who have become radicalized to the point that they feel the occupation of a city is peaceful protesting? When have we normalized arson to communicate our political point of view? What happens to our political system when quality people of all parties don’t want to work in spaces subject to that kind of violence? 

Speaking of those bridges, I’ve got friends working in the political system for most parties and I’ve got friends that are participating in the occupation of Ottawa. Moreover, I worry about both groups for different reasons. What’s the way to resolve this? I don’t know, but I do know that while politics is also known as being about the personal, we need to work more towards an approach that is not about us as individuals but our collective community.