Canadians’ sense of malaise and unease at the current state of affairs is captured by a February poll. The Proof Strategies CanTrust Index, an annual survey of trust found a 10 per cent drop in trust in government between January 2021 and January 2022. In addition, aggregate trust in NGOs, business, media, and government has been trending down for the last five years and now stands at only 34 per cent. Supporters of all political parties have become less trustful over the years, although trust remains highest among those who identified as Liberal supporters.
The survey was conducted before the recent Freedom Convoy and the government’s crackdown using the Emergencies Act, which polarized Canadians as never before. Equally polarizing is sure to be the decision on March 21 of an official agreement between the Liberals and the New Democratic Party intended to keep the minority government afloat with outside support until its mandate expires in 2025. Coming in the wake of an impending committee inquiry into the government’s unprecedented use of emergency powers, the deal between Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and NDP leader Jagmeet Singh reeks of opportunism.
With Singh’s support, Trudeau’s government will now sail through what could have been difficult hearings on their use of — and possible misuse of — government power. Meanwhile, the NDP gets offered a grab bag of vague promises that relate to some of their most populist left wing proposals, such as universal pharmacare and dental care, maybe for the first time in modern history seen as the pillars of socialist ideology by any left wing political party in the democratic world.
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