By Sally Barnes
I haven’t checked with my pharmacy lately, but I’m willing to bet they have seen a real run on sleeping pills.
If you are a news hound as I am (lifelong addiction I can’t shake), it’s hard to count sheep when the world is filled with people intent on killing each other and while our democratic institutions are threatened and ridiculed.
It used to be that bad things only happened somewhere else. Today, our own tidy communities are experiencing violent crime, drug addiction is epidemic and homelessness, anger and racism are rampant.
Worldly problems are now in our own backyards.
Pictures of hungry kids and breadlines resemble the families who live down the street.
Leadership is at a premium. We’ve joined the disturbing trend of politicians and other public figures deciding to throw in the towel. Too many have experienced threats to their safety, their staff, and their families because they have supported causes unpopular in some circles. In many cases, the cause is racism, which today is at an all-time high, with antisemitism leading the pack.
Democratic elections used to be a time to air our grievances, feed off promises of hope and a better future, and the entertainment of opposing politicians in verbal combat. Sadly, that has all changed. Politics has turned into a blood sport.
Parliament, once the domain of skilled debate, intelligent and respectful public dialogue, is now dishonoured with vicious personal attacks, bitter anger and downright hatred.
The current U.S. election is a circus. It is more of an embarrassment than it is an exercise in democracy.
A great nation that remains a beacon of freedom, opportunity, and hope around the world is now the subject of ridicule and easy fodder for everyone from late-night TV comics to foreign leaders lusting over power and aggression.
It is hard to believe that this is a nail-biter election for our friends to the south. How can Donald Trump possibly be a serious contender for the presidency? He’s been there and done that. His presidency inspired and condoned riots, racism, and insurrection.
He made lying and character assassination acceptable behaviour for public figures. He is a convicted felon who owes millions of dollars in fines for crimes he has committed against the American people and awaits court dates on more charges.
He has no respect or concern for anyone but himself. Researchers have lost track of his bankruptcies and the ways he has cheated friends and foes alike. His biography is bereft of any examples of empathy, generosity, or mercy. He is a hypocrite who professes a belief in God when everything else fails—which, indeed, it does in everything he touches.
He uses people until they are no longer useful and finds a bus to throw them under. He surrounds himself with only fawning “yes” people and topples the reputations of others like they are bowling pins.
He disrespects women and hates to lose at anything. The only thing in this world worse than losing the upcoming election would be Donald C. Trump losing to a woman. And a Black woman at that!
Trump’s heroes are dictators, and he has publicly expressed admiration for a motley collection of truly evil people, both past and present.
His admirers are those who venerate his bullying style and benefit from his policies that reward the wealthy and have nothing but contempt for the weak and downtrodden.
It is inconceivable that at this time when the world teeters on the brink of more wars that there could be enough American voters willing to trust Trump and return him to the Oval Office in what is arguably the most powerful position in the world.
But that’s the picture today’s polls are painting. It could be a dead heat between Trump and current Vice President Kamala Harris, who has been the subject of Trump’s fetid name-calling since day one. The foulness increases each day as the election grows closer and Trump fights for his political life.
His faux faith serves him well, especially with the hard-core Christian right of the Republican Party. He clutches a Bible for a photo op, has celebrity church leaders at his elbow, and leads supplicants in prayer for hurricane survivors. Lord have mercy.
Meanwhile, up here in the Great White North, we continue to sneer at what’s happening south of the border while we ourselves are up to our ears in major social and economic problems that far outnumber solutions on which our leaders can or will agree and cooperate.
The Bloc, a party of avowed separatists, holds our Parliament to ransom, and our population is deeply polarized and divided. There is much anger and pessimism across the land.
If a federal election were held today, I believe we would see the lowest voter turnout in Canadian history. Many Liberals and Conservatives are unhappy with their leaders, and I can’t remember a time when so many people agonized over whether to vote for the very parties they have always supported—sometimes for generations.
Liberals have sickened of Justin Trudeau, his policies, and promises. He struts like a peacock. He sneers and smirks. He oozes self-confidence and believes that despite lagging support he must stay in office if Canada is to be saved from the loathsome Tory leader Pierre Poilievre.
Trailing badly in the polls, Trudeau struggles to regain public support and calm a restless caucus worried about hanging onto their own seats. His challenge to get re-elected begins at home, but the Liberal Party—once Canada’s Governing Party with leaders like Pearson, Chretien, and Pierre Trudeau—is not a convivial place these days.
Meanwhile, many loyal Conservatives are fearful of Poilievre and pray that between now and election time, he can mutate into a more pleasant and less intimidating person. If only the schoolyard bully with the smirk and repetitious slogans would lighten up and show some civility. Frequent references to his attractive and fiercely loyal wife and three cute kids aren’t enough to make him likable and trustworthy by shaking off his Mr. Nasty persona.
No one and nothing is safe from Poilievre’s glare. I especially resent his Trump-like disparagement of the media and the CBC in particular. This at a time when media outlets struggle to survive as one of the pillars of democracy, keeping the public informed and holding governments and politicians to account.
So, if Liberals can’t bring themselves to vote for Trudeau again and the Tories need Poilievre to reverse his scary tendencies before they can vote for him, where are they all going to go? Some might consider the NDP, of course. But many will just choose to stay on the couch and let their fellow Canadians decide who will next govern this wonderful country that deserves much better from its current politicians and those who follow them.
Meanwhile, turning off the late television news and taking some warm milk before bedtime would be a helpful formula for much-needed sound sleep.
Sally Barnes has enjoyed a distinguished career as a writer, journalist and author. Her work has been recognized in a number of ways, including receiving a Southam Fellowship in Journalism at Massey College at the University of Toronto. A self-confessed political junkie, she has worked in the back-rooms for several Ontario premiers. In addition to a number of other community contributions, Sally Barnes served a term as president of the Ontario Council on the Status of Women. She is a former business colleague of Doppler’s publisher, Hugh Mackenzie, and lives in Kingston, Ontario. You can find her online at sallybarnesauthor.com.
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Interesting commentary, Sally Barnes, thank you.
Paul Whillans – I have never voted with the primary consideration of constituency representation, it has always been policy, party- so, I find your perspective interesting. I have viewed that perspective as a poor default position.
Bill Tiffin, we the boomers (who had no say as to being born in that era) are not so quick to write off Your generation! Many of us have next generation sons/daughters and grandsons/granddaughters -to keep us mindful of their issues/concerns on our radar.
Some of us are: politically aware and engaged;
– concerned with what next generations inherit from us;
-aware of the effects in the aftermath of the pandemic;
– mindful of parents/grandparents who have lived through 2 World Wars and a severe economic depression; and
– very grateful for the right and ability to vote, Never taking that for granted.
Several of us do not disparage science, are accepting of the global climate issues (affecting not only economies, people migration, disease spread, food insecurity).
Off the charts cringe. Hey boomers – you’re done, sit back and let us fix your mess, really, sit down.
I share the aforementioned current leadership conundrum. The choice is ghastly.
However, I take solace in the manner that the Canadian parliamentary system differs from the republican system to the south of us. We do not vote for the leader of a party (per se).
As such I will vote for the local candidate who promises to represent me. such a novel and archaic concept……Constituency over Party
The world’s problems are in our backyards…how the hell do you figure THAT happened?
Dave Wilkin, if I was to guess I think what Mr. Holland is referring to the current “best guess” on Trudeau’s strategy. Faced with growing pressure over the Green Slush Fund scandal, Trudeau will very cynically and cowardly prorogue Parliament and announce his resignation. There will then be a hastily arranged Liberal leadership race which Mr. Holland’s preferred choice Mark Carney may win. Liberal strategists hope that by replacing the detested Trudeau with the unknown Carney, they can blunt the worst result of the very bad defeat that they will face soon.
There are lots of reasons why this strategy won’t work, and the chief reason is that Trudeau is too arrogant and narcissistic to resign. His arrogance and stupidity have earned him the enmity of Canadians, and Liberal partisans will rue the day they selected him as leader, if they haven’t already. To quote the esteemed political pundit and scholar Terrell Owens: “Get’cha popcorn ready!”
Poilievre thrives on conflict and dysfunction. Just like Trump.
https://doppleronline.ca/huntsville/political-dysfunction/
Search “For Pierre Poilievre, the conflict appears to be the point”
“has any Canadian politician in recent memory embraced rhetorical conflict as enthusiastically as Pierre Poilievre?”
” the list of those Poilievre and his party have attacked or clashed with includes the governor of the Bank of Canada, the World Economic Forum, the Speaker of the House of Commons, the mayors of several cities and towns, journalists with the CBC and Canadian Press, academics and policy experts.”
“Having phrased his view of Poilievre’s words in rather genteel terms, Wilkinson then decided to put it more simply:”
They are stupid.”
Just like Trump Poilievre is a liar. As well as Dani Smith in Alberta and Doug Ford.
Note all Conservatives.
Trump has shown Conservatives in Canada that blatant lies hardly affect polling numbers any more.
Of course all politicians from all parties lie occasionally.
But at least they try to be subtle about it and make it difficult to fact check.
Not since Trump.
Blatant lies that are easy to fact check yet polling numbers aren’t affected.
I actually don’t blame politicians.
I blame the apathetic electorate.
I also blame the media.
It used to be that the media would present both sides of a story.
Lies from politicians followed by fact checks.
Not always anymore.
Now often just the lies are reported as if they were facts.
There is a need for optimism.
And far less lying and complaining.
https://doppleronline.ca/huntsville/a-need-for-optimism/
Hugh Holland, you stated that “Canada seems destined to some sort of minority government”. How did you come to that conclusion? The poll aggregator 338Canada now has the Conservatives at 43% vs. Liberals at 22%, and a seat count projection of 228 for the Conservatives to just 53 for the Liberals, marginally ahead of the BQ at 42, and a distant NDP at only 18 seats. With the Liberal minority government looking increasingly desporate, wobbly and Trudeau’s approval/popularity cratering, an election is looking increasingly likely by the spring.
https://338canada.com/
Turn,Turn, Turn was a “Byrds” song.
Both the Byrds and the Yardbirds were great groups. The Yardbirds played at Hidden Valley in and around 1967. Not sure if the Byrds would have made it across the border
back then.
Golly Roger Poirier; it sure is nice to recall a great song. But I think the Yardbirds were just paraphrasing Solomon. The king tells us to enjoy life and to do good. It’s the ‘do good’ part that man has and does struggle with. Solomon couldn’t collect the royalties on the ditty, not that he needed them, so Eric and Jeff and Jimmy did.
I can understand why you say what you did, but can’t see it as much more than a western comment and attitude. I’ve travelled as well. Suffered the culture shock (all good) of Hong Kong. Felt the pain of Cambodia. Seen the resilience and determination of Vietnam. Enjoyed the differences that are the little island nations you encounter when you fly toward Hawaii and swing left. I’ve seen the beauty of it all. I haven’t been to the Arctic or Antarctica because unless heavily drugged, I couldn’t get my wife on a holiday to a country with ice and snow. More than enough here at home.
But when I, and I imagine you, travel, we have a bundle of cash within reach, a passport and the ability to purchase a ticket to our next destination. At present there are 120 million other ‘travelers’ who are not called tourist. They are called refugees or displaced persons or asylum seeker. They haven’t enjoyed their travelling the way you and I do.
Their buggies might contain what remains of their worldly possessions. In Cuba and Cambodia and Morocco, the cars I saw were not “mostly new”. I’m not sure how full the Costco buggies are in either Afghanistan or Syria. There may be short lines in Lebanon and Ukraine too. (Though I don’t think there are Costco lines in any of those countries.)
You can say that what goes around will come again. But for a lot of our fellow ‘travelers’, it has been and gone. What is left of their world is just the grinding struggle to survive. No money. No Costco Line. No new car. No passport. No hope.
Think about it. Indeed!
Roger, our economy compares well with peer countries and for most Canadians, but not all. It’s climate change we need to get serious about. According to this mornings NYT, hurricane Milton is barreling toward the west coast of Florida and people in several counties are being advised to evacuate again today. The debris lying around from Hurricane Helene just 20 days ago will become projectiles in any new storm surge.
Mary, are opinions from MSM, most international governments, and the UN all “Proven untrue” by Fox News?
Helen, RFK Jr is considered by most Americans to be a certifiable nut case. Trump says climate change is a hoax. Trump, Kennedy and Musk are driven only by ego and money. Ask the mothers of Musk’s 13 children.
Well said, Sally
I have said all along that the USA will survive 4 more years of Democratic Party rule under Kamala Harris, however the USA will NOT survive 4 years of Republican Party rule under Donald Trump.
Traitor meaning is described as: a person who betrays a friend, country, principle, etc.
DT is a despicable traitor to the GOP and to the USA.
It is very sad to have to state this out loud, however his, and JD Vance’s, use of blatant lies concerning FEMA is his latest, and so unconscionable. People have lost homes, towns have disappeared, roads are gone, powere and water supplies are compromised, the death toll keeps rising, a disaster at every turn in many states and he is ratcheting up the strap on his book of lies when fellow humans are suffering at every turn.
As for Pierre Poilevre, he is as much danger to the people of Canada as DT is to the people of the USA.
How did we get here?
Lets hope that all comments are posted so that the dialogue can be fair.
I think you all may be mislead as to what some of these leaders have done right. Have any of you read this?
https://2017-2021.state.gov/the-abraham-accords/
Its about Peace
I believe as I understand it Trump wants peace, a vibrant economy and better health, more accountabilty with the food system, Kennedy and Musk are on his team, I think we will be in much better hands with that team than the opposing government.
Maybe you are all watching MSM and not reading the comments on sites such as True North https://tnc.news/
I believe our real truths are not revealed completley through the CBC, CTV or any of the others.
Educate ourselves first!!
Read True North
What’s hard to accept are seriously out of touch boomer comments full of hypocrisy. You sneer at Trump but then complain about sneering & then sneer at Polievre. MSM propaganda is all this opinion shares & the attitude flys directly in the face of what truly IS honest & important these days….where the now majority voting populace form their intelligent opinions…alternative media & podcasts. There is nothing more boring than those unable to identify the threat of gvnmt sponsored MSM, & who spew out democrats/CNN talking points against trump, all of which have been proven untrue. Then turn around & puke all over Polievre because you don’t like his attitude. Unbelievable if it wasn’t so sadly the state of many Cdn boomers.
As a very old Conservative with social support for the less fortunate, who will I vote for?
My goodness you guys! What depressing comments. I think of the song written by the Yardbirds in 1965 called Turn, Turn, Turn expressing the reality of a changing, or turning, world in which there is a time and place for everything.Read Ecclesiastes 3.
I am well travelled and see the world is busting at the seems with tourism, Costco lines are four aisles long, buggies full, highways are jammed with cars, mostly new, etc, etc., so things can’t be all bad no matter how you look at it.
Governments change, they come and go and life goes on. A bird has two wings!
Through all these changes, life will go on, pumpkins will seed, snowflakes will fall, trees will refresh in spring, and summer will bring beautiful warm days.
Think about it.
”Trump’s worst nightmare ….. losing to a woman!” It appears to me viewing the US political system from afar that the Republicans’ worst nightmare is losing to Kamala Harris. But, there are many women presidents they would welcome – Nikki Haley, Tulsi Gabbard and Elise Stephanik come to mind ….
Yes Sally, Trudeau struts, Poilievre sneers, Singh slams, and Blanchet snarls as climate change destroys our world and our politics with accelerating draughts, wildfires, hurricanes, and floods, causing more and more global shortages of food, and materials, leading to inflation. But Poilievre is the odd man out on this existential crisis. Either he doesn’t know, or he doesn’t care. The US finally seems ready for a breath of fresh air, and Canada seems destined to some sort of minority government with big money and tax cuts versus real common sense.
You are not the only one that thinks Poilievre is similar to Trump.
“How can Donald Trump possibly be a serious contender for the presidency?”
How can Pierre Poilievre possibly be a serious contender for prime minister?”
Search ” More Canadians think Poilievre and Trump are similar than different” according to Abacus.
And “What Pierre Poilievre and Donald Trump have in common”
“we now have a Canadian Conservative leader who trades in the same trademark combination of bombast, belligerence, and bs.”
Lucky for the US at least it looks like Trump and his bs are history.
The bs continues in Canada.
Some career Conservatives are thinking of not supporting Poilievre as well.
See Hugh Holland’s comments.
“Hugh, like you I have always voted for moderate conservatives, but this time I cant do it. So, I will vote Liberal.”
https://doppleronline.ca/huntsville/political-dysfunction/
Well said. The questions in my mind are:
“. How can I support a party without a strong policy?
Is it better to support the “devil” you know than others who are either quick with slogans or no policy or a lot of promises and no economics.
I am a committed voter but it is tough this time. I hope sometime soon “the boys will grow up!!”