The federal election campaign is over and the sky has not fallen.
I’m not writing about who won, or who lost, or why.
The point is, regardless of whether we have a landslide Conservative majority government or a Liberal minority aiming to build bridges with the Greens and the NDP on the path towards coalition, millions of Canadians are not thrilled with the results. And of course millions of others are relishing the delight of victory. But one way or another, despite differing opinions, we all remain neighbours, coworkers, family members and friends.
Unfortunately, throughout and leading up to the election, there was a lot said about division. Largely thrown around by the Conservatives, who frequently claimed that Justin Trudeau fomented public discord to new heights. However, the Liberals and those who are left of centre are not the ones constantly stoking an unsubstantiated fear of the “other” for political gain.
In no particular order, activists, immigrants, the LGBTQ2+ community, the poor, refugees, and drug addicts are often subjected to harmful misinformation and hyperbolic partisan propaganda designed specifically to elicit primal emotions like fear that sow resentment against a convenient scapegoat, which becomes a powerful motivator in compelling people to vote.
Activists, who have historically fought for labour rights, women’s rights, civil rights, and environmental protections, have to a very large extent been depicted by the right as a malevolent radical movement of pesky protesters for challenging the status quo and demanding better protections for people and the environment before corporate profits.
Then there are the immigrants who are coming to take all of the jobs, but they’re also somehow simultaneously too lazy to do anything and just sponge off of the system. This is naturally completely untrue. Outsourcing and especially automation are the main culprits behind lost jobs and the shift away from a thriving manufacturing jobs sector to a service, gig economy.
Next up on the tinfoil hat top-10, the LGBTQ2+ community is covertly attempting to deviously convert every last human being into some depraved underworld of debauchery. They don’t want equal rights, they demand special treatment that makes them better than everyone else. But that’s all just more slander; they merely don’t want to be petrified of being attacked in public in a society that still has some hateful attitudes towards them.
Another frequent target are the working poor. It’s their own fault for being lazy and they just need to pull up their bootstraps — welfare will only create a culture of entitlement and a fair minimum wage will destroy the economy! However, social programs enable people to empower themselves, and are a long-term investment that plays an important role in lifting people from poverty into productivity. And since the dawn of a minimum wage, corporate cries of economic doom have never materialized, instead prosperity for the middle class inevitably flourished while the rich remain rich.
Often receiving attention for years now are also refugees, who no shortage of conservative pundits say refuse to integrate and are probably terrorists or criminals. However, we’re talking about people who fled devastating conflict or economic as well as ecosystem collapse and have no propensity for violence and crime. Many — including some from Syria — have gone on to start businesses and contribute important economic stimulus. I’d frankly be more comfortable leaving a child with a family from Syria that can hardly speak a word of English than some Confederate flag waving historical ignoramus.
People who suffer from addiction are also regularly condescendingly looked down upon as weak, immoral failures whose decisions in life are theirs alone to blame, rather than as a hurting individual who clearly needs help. The real heart of the matter is a flawed system that treats a health problem as a criminal issue. Addiction is the toxic fruit born by trauma. So helping such individuals heal and rehabilitate should be prioritized over tossing them in jail.
These kinds of claims about “others” are all harmful and founded in prejudiced stereotypes that flourish in the absence of exposure to these “others” they resent so much. These toxic tropes are certainly used to divide people, but not by the left.
Democracy is strengthened by diversity, and standing against intolerance does not make one intolerant. But the Conservatives are unquestionably right — we must work harder to find common ground to mend these rifts. Perhaps they’ll lead by example, which speaks volumes over political platitudes.
– Ducatel is the Sundre Round Up editor
