Roundup: Closer examinations of Canadian populism

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The topic of populism has been coming up a lot lately, in a variety of contexts, and there were a couple of interesting discussions around it in the Canadian context over the past couple of days. One is an examination by Frank Graves and Michael Valpy that looks at some of the demographic factors in Canadian populist sentiment, and digs out some interesting things like broader support among male millennials, and even some immigrant communities (though I would note that it’s not that difficult to get immigrant communities to turn against other newcomers – particularly asylum seekers – a technique that Jason Kenney tried very hard to exploit when he was federal immigration minister. The piece is worth digging into, and I had to read it a good two or three times before I started to appreciate a lot of what was contained within.

Another interesting piece was a look at the construction of Alberta conservatism, which goes beyond fiscal and social conservatism – indeed, when polled on values, much of the province actually skews toward fairly centrist values – and yet they disproportionately gravitate toward conservative parties out of a sense of brand identity, which is particularly curious, though one should note that political parties have been losing their ideological bases in favour of left-and-right flavoured populism over the past number of years. And populism is very much a factor in the Alberta voting populace, as the examination shows, which includes the distinction of populism as something that appeals to the “pure” homogeneity of a “people.”

To that end, here’s a good thread that digs into what sets populism apart from democracy, and why it’s something we need to pay attention to as this becomes an increasingly important part of the Canadian discourse.

Good reads:

  • Chrystia Freeland gave a press conference yesterday full of very careful language around the situation with the arrested Huawei CFO and retaliation by China.
  • Said Huawei CFO, Meng Wanzhou, ordered pizza for reporters camped out on her lawn in Vancouver. Bless.
  • Dominic LeBlanc is taking shots at new premier Blaine Higgs for cutting projects that leave federal dollars on the table.
  • Transport Canada released new fatigue management rules for airline pilots, and said pilots are calling the new rules “substandard.”
  • Two years after the Panama Papers were leaked, the CRA has yet to charge anyone named from Canada (but say they continue to investigate).
  • The Commons ethics committee is recommending greater government oversight of web giants like Google and Facebook after privacy scandals.
  • In the Mark Norman case, the defence is accusing the government of being slow to produce documents, and of overproducing creating data dumps.
  • The prime minister appointed four new senators yesterday, which brings the chamber back up to full strength for the first time since 2010.
  • One of those new appointees, Dr. Kutcher, has a more problematic history around drug trials but threatened lawsuits that had reporting scrubbed from the Internet.
  • It being Christmas party season, the Liberals circulated a memo to MPs and staff about their zero tolerance to any behaviour that could be harassment.
  • A former CTV anchor is seeking the Liberal nomination in Vancouver–Kingsway.
  • There are questions as to why it’s taking so long for new two Conservative members to be appointed to NSCIOP.
  • The premier of the Northwest Territories says they are having difficulty developing resources in the North, but he is reluctantly accepting a carbon tax plan.
  • A study shows that people who consume news through social media tend to prefer opinion over objectivity. Gosh, you think?
  • If you want a better understanding of Statistics Canada’s job numbers, this piece will give you some good context.
  • While the Commons is sitting again today, Kady O’Malley’s Process Nerd column looks at the signs to watch for when it comes to MPs rising early for the season.
  • Andrew Coyne pokes into the discontent and nonsense rhetoric around equalisation.
  • Chantal Hébert enumerates the challenges of the three main party leaders heading into 2019.
  • Susan Delacourt reflects on the closure of Centre Block.

Odds and ends:

A London, Ontario, teen got to be “prime minister for a day” thanks to the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

Here is Liberal MP Rodger Cuzner’s annual Christmas poem:

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One thought on “Roundup: Closer examinations of Canadian populism”

  1. Populists tend to snipe with urban and rural myths, misinformation and folk lore. In this day of instant data analysis it is amazing that since nearly everyone walks around with a communication device there is so little fact finding done before folks comment on issues. What is even more astounding is with instant contact with their coteries there doesn’t seem to be anyone who straightens them out with facts. As a native Alberta now residing in BC there is a mindless bias against the east, Ontario manufacturing, Quebec for language issues amongst others I must admit that with the changes in how we discuss these bias is little different than folks did when sitting around a heater in winter with some neighbors harboring similar mantras. Today it is faster but the tools are there to get facts right before going off on tangents.

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