Mid-week podcast: leadership politics
On The House mid-week podcast, we take the pulse of the Conservative and NDP caucus meetings and ask how important is trust in politics?
Both opposition parties are getting ready for Parliament's return while dealing with leadership distractions.
In Halifax, the Conservative gathering has been overshadowed by Peter MacKay's announcement that he would not seek to party's leadership.
The CBC's Susan Lunn fills us in on who caucus members are rallying around.
Meanwhile, in Montreal, the NDP has been trying to put to rest reports of dissatisfaction with Tom Mulcair.
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Conservatives try to dent Trudeau government's armour on economy
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Tom Mulcair has 'unanimous' NDP caucus support after leadership questions
Kristy Kirkup of the Canadian Press tells us what MPs have being discussing.
Even after both parties choose a leader, there's the question about whether or not voters will believe them in the next election.
Trust and politics
The issue of trust in politics is especially exacerbated in the United States, where polls suggest Americans don't trust either Republican nominee Donald Trump or Democrat Hillary Clinton.
Amanda Bittner, a political science professor at Memorial University in St. John's, N.L., said trust plays a role in a voter's choice, even if they don't realize it.
"It's implicit. As voters we don't always know what makes us decide to vote the way that we do. We think we might know. We might think, 'Oh I like that person's policies or I think he did a great job in office' and things like that. And part of that's true, but usually we make decisions based on things that we don't always know because of the way our brains work," she said.
Trust is a scarce commodity.- Alex Himmelfarb
Alex Himmelfarb, director emeritus of the Glendon School of International and Public Affairs in Toronto and a former clerk of the privy council, said mistrust isn't just an issue in the U.S. campaign.
"In Canada we've had 40 years of declining trust in government but also in our other institutions, even in one another. Trust is a scarce commodity," he said.
Himmelfarb said headlines detailing corruption and misspending, the declining quality of government services and inequality through public policy all erode the public's trust.
"Increasingly people think the system is rigged," he said.
Bittner says a mistrust in a politician can lead to a mistrust in the entire government.
"There is a rhetoric out there that governments are bad that politics are all bad . We equate them to used car salesman," said the professor.
She said there's a danger when that mistrust mixes with social media, where political jabs and sweeping claims go unscrutinized.
"Our level of political knowledge is quite low...that's playing a role in the way we talk about politics. And if we talk about politics in that way on a regular basis, especially if it's devoid of any actual content about what's happening in terms of policy, real discussion of options and things like that, then we're going to have a really kid of messy situation where people are not super engaged and excited and really paying attention," she said.
Bittner and Himmelfarb both agree the media need to play a bigger role forcing politicians to be truthful about their platforms, while providing analysis.
"Media becomes less of a solution the less people trust it," said Himmelfarb.
He says the media needs to focus on how people are affected by policy and less about the game of politics. For example, Himmelfarb believes the the media's obsession with calling out politicians for unkept promises, even if the promise was based on poor public policy or the economy drastically changes, undermines people's trust.
"It seems like [the media] sees politics as a just a circulation of a way to throw one set of bums out to replace them with a new set of bums."