Thread by @stevemwilcox

1/ This article—"Why Canadians need to wake up about populism"—written by two public policy experts, provides interesting insight into the rise of populism in Canada (i.e. 'For the People' pledges that is anything but). thestar.com/opinion/contri…

2/ They point to Leitch & Kouvalis' 'Canadian values' rhetoric as one of the early indications of Conservatives testing the populist waters. We've since seen a populist elected in Ontario who uses 'taking care of our own' rhetoric re: immigration ipolitics.ca/2018/05/11/im-…

3/ The authors tie the emergence of populism to socio-economic conditions that are not dissimilar to those of Germany in 1920s & 30s.

4/ Specifically, they point to the stagnation of income for working-class Canadians while the income of the top 0.1 per cent has risen by 500% (!) over that same period.

5/ Populism, they surmise, creates a unique challenge in Canada, for while the majority reject it, their political allegiances are dispersed across numerous parties, while pro-populist voters have concentrated largely around the Conservative party

6/ The Conservative party, in turn, has shifted to embrace populism, marked by a pervasive mistrust of any authority outside of the party—be it political, academic, or scientific. Many of their gains have come from men shifting from the Liberal party.

7/ But Conservative parties also garner support from the upper classes who see past the empty populist 'For the People' rhetoric to actions and policy decisions that benefit them (See Ford and Trump's track records vs their campaign rhetoric)

8/ What appears to be galvanizing support for Conservative populism is xenophobia and sexism, which is increasingly being concentrated in the party. Given that irrational fear & hatred are mainstays of populist gov'ts, this fits with the populist turn we're seeing in Cnd politics

9/ I think the article leans a bit too heavily on education as a bellwether for populist support when other factors could be at play. But there's no doubt that populism is on the rise here & that our electoral system & party distribution leaves us primed to elect a populist gov't

10/ Ford won, for instance, with only 40% of the popular vote. The majority of Ontarians rejected his populist overtures and his views but under First Past the Post this is the outcome we get cbc.ca/news/ontario-e…

11/ Sooner rather than later we need to come to terms w the fact that a large segment of the electorate views members of the Conservative party as the sole authority on social, economic, and scientific issues. That's a threat to the very foundation of our democracy

12/ Political parties should never be seen as authorities on subjects like immigration, climate change, & healthcare. The electorate & thus elected officials should instead be guided by a consensus among experts in those fields.