Canadians feeling alienated from politics

Now there's a news flash for you! All you have to do is eavesdrop on the conversations at Tim Horton's and you'd know that the prevailing sentiment is "a pox on all their houses". Actually no-one talks like that any more but Walt will refrain from the language I've heard to describe people's attitudes to politicians in general and "Call Me Steve" Harper in particular.

The Institute of Wellbeing [C'mon, you're making this up! ed. -- No I'm not! Follow the link! Walt] reports that fewer Canadians are voting or volunteering for formal political groups. Agent 3 reports that the political organizations he belongs to are suffering from declining membership, and those who still belong are hard to drag out to meetings.

The CIW's Democratic Engagement Domain Report released on January 27 affirms that nearly half of those surveyed say they aren’t happy with the way Canada’s democracy works. Agent 3 confesses that he doesn't attend meetings as much as he used to, because nothing the rank and file do seems to make any difference. The leaders and rulers, he says, have no concern or respect whatsoever for the opinions of the people.

The report also cites recent surveys which say an overwhelming majority feel that federal government policies have made their lives worse, not better. democratic engagement, released Wednesday, says Canada is experiencing a huge democratic deficit that is only getting worse.

It also highlights the low voter turnout in the last federal election -- the lowest in Canadian history. The aloof and autocratic Harper claims that the Canadian people are behind him [with knives drawn? ed.] and don't want another election. He conveniently forgets that only about 35% of the 55% or so of eligible voters who turned out actually voted for his party.

"The disconnect between Canadians and those who govern on their behalf is deep, wide and growing," the Institute's CEO, Lynne Slotek, said. "At a time when people are demanding greater accountability and transparency, they see their government institutions becoming more remote and opaque."

"Remote and opaque..." Yes, that describes the Harper government, the one that shut down Parliament, perfectly. But do the Canadian people really care? Stay tuned.