Seeking approval - Shawn's Sense with Shawn Loughlin

Perhaps it’s time I take a long, hard look at myself in the mirror and ask the question, “Am I, indeed, a freedom-loving, government-hating Libertarian?” with the way my last few columns have gone, but, really, there are times where you can’t help but wonder what we’re even doing here.

 

“Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all the others,” goes the famous quote from Winston Churchill. And yet, I can’t help but wonder if a better alternative to what we have has eluded us. 

 

I say this after a report from late last week stated that Danielle Smith, the Premier of Alberta, is seeing her approval rating crater in June, according to an Angus Reid poll. Sure enough, the article is complete with a bar chart with all of the Premiers’ faces on the bars.

 

Smith, who is a garbage person and an even worse politician, has a current approval rating of 39 per cent. I knew that from the headline, so that wasn’t a surprise. What was a surprise was that she and Quebec Premier Christine Fréchette - both at 39 per cent approval - could be considered to be middle of the road in terms of Canadian premiers and residents’ approval of their performance in office at the moment. 

 

New Brunswick Premier Susan Holt is just a hair higher with an approval rating of 41 per cent, followed by two coin-flip premiers - Saskatchewan’s Scott Moe and Tony Wakeham of Newfoundland and Labrador - at 50 per cent. It goes without saying that everyone trails Manitoba’s Wab Kinew and his approval rating of 62 per cent. 

 

Down in the basement are Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston with 34 per cent and British Columbia Premier David Eby with 31 per cent. Alone in the subbasement is Doug Ford in Ontario with a staggering 21 per cent approval rating, which is down 10 per cent since the last time Angus Reid asked.

 

As far as national leaders are concerned, Prime Minister Mark Carney’s approval rating has just dropped, but to 55 per cent. Stateside, Donald Trump enjoys a 31 per cent approval rating, revealing that roughly one in three Americans must have suffered some sort of traumatic brain injury in recent years.

 

This shows that, of the names I mentioned, just Kinew and Carney have the support of even a slim majority of the people they are charged to govern. Everyone else is more reviled than they are loved, with some support, such as Ford’s, as low as one in five people One in five people support him and yet he is able to make decisions that affect all of our lives on a daily basis; you know, not during his government’s 21-week recess, but when they all come back.

 

Now, I know that poll results and results at the ballot boxes are two very different things, but, it’s clear that our relationship with those who are said to be looking out for our best interests - spending our money, organizing our healthcare, teaching our children and more - has soured. So, what is the answer?

 

I don’t know the answer. Like Churchill, I feel like our imperfect democratic system leaves a lot to be desired, but, looking around the rest of the world, there doesn’t seem to be much to get excited about, government-wise.

 

Maybe we’re just jaded as people when it comes to our representation or maybe we’re just difficult to please these days as factors way out of our control and way beyond our shores continue to impact our lives in ways that they definitely shouldn’t, but, either way, it seems we’ve fallen out of love with those we have elected to serve our best interests and I think that’s their fault, not ours.