On September 8, 2009 the CBC released it’s latest Canadian political poll. The Liberals under Michael Ignatieff dropped sharply to 25.7% and the Harper Conservatives jumped to 37.7%, putting them in the ballpark to finally get a majority government if elections were held now.
What went wrong for Ignatieff and the Liberals? Another case of not listening to Canadians. No one wants an election now — just watch the groaning belly aches of the voters when Igatieff stirred the pot. It turns out that after 4 elections in 5 years, and just when the country is showing a glimmer of hope of getting out of the current recession — no one wants to rock the boat.
I’m not saying that Canadians generally like to rock the boat- we have a very conservative (with a small c) culture at the best of times. It’s just that it would be great if now and then political leaders would make an effort to understand the population they wish to serve. During the last election Harper blew his chance at a majority by making sure he turned off most of the Quebec population by upping the law and order quotient and cutting financial support for the arts! It was as if he didn’t understand one iota about Quebec culture. So last week, there he was playing piano and singing “A Little Help from My Friends.” It reminded me of Data from Star Trek playing the violin.
Why do politicals ignore what is going on in the country? My theory is that is a result of becoming too “Internal” — They decide what is important. They decide too many things for themselves without checking to see if what they believe coincides with what is actually happening.
Let’s see some evidence of more reality checks now and then from our political leaders. At least Ignatieff responded by taking the poll seriously instead of ignoring it. Iggy, now is the time to go and listen to Canadians outside the Liberal party.
I’ve watched Ignatieff’s body language and listened to his tone of voice from the beginning. He simply does not exhude trust and rapport with most Québéquois. Mind you, Harper is no better, that is why the Bloc Québécois gets so many votes in each election. The rest of Canada does not realize, understand, “get it” or do not care that Quebec has always been touchy about their qualms, and very few Prime Ministers played on that note, to their political detriment.
There is a campaign going on in Quebec about Ignatieff and Harper having the same “regard” or same look on their face – sponsored by the Bloc Québécois. That plays very well in the mentality of a lot of Québécois. A lot of Québécois, who did not vote for the Bloc Québécois, like me, will rather vote against someone to make they do not get in, especially when the choices are not good. That was the case with Dion. The fact that Coderre, the former “Lieutenant” of the Liberal Party in Quebec, quit because of an alledged faux-pas by Ignatieff, certainly switched the vote back to Harper and to the Bloc, and prevented a lot of Québécois from getting rid of Harper. IMHO.
Canada’s not the only country having to put up with this – Gordon Brown’s style of leadership in the UK seems to be strongly “Internal”, plus strongly “Self” and “Reactive”. A recipe for not having a vision, not communicating it, and not listening. Nothing’s really changed although he was being criticised for it two years ago, e.g. http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2007/may/23/comment.politics