Saturday, September 21, 2019 ~ NATIONAL
EDITORIAL: by Mary P Brooke, Editor, West Shore Voice News
Hopefully this helps put to bed this week’s black face / brown face episode of the federal campaign.
Whether you think ‘black face / brown face’ is a a quirky misguided bit of theatrical antics borne of the colonial white upper class (which it is), or something now starkly visible within the past of a former private school drama (also history and math) teacher turned prime minister (which it is), voters and pundits who have been frothing about this for almost a week now can look at two obvious points and then get past this. Not to ignore it, but so the electorate can focus on the present accomplishments and promises of our Canadian leaders and our collective goals as a society going forward.
For one, we can feel sorry for a an intelligent guy — who seems to care — who found himself caught up in the pettiness of a wealthy class he was born to, perhaps at one point drifting without a cause. But looking at TV interviews with regular folks across the country this week you can see that many people (of all races and backgrounds) also admire a privileged person who has boldly taken up a destiny that was handed to him (hey, he might have instead taken up a career of stock market celebrations and endless beachfront vacations). But he chose to pursue leadership and as prime minister has a strong record of promoting multi-culturalism and gender equity by actually structurally changing things in Canada toward a broader, more diverse society.
This current scenario begs of the citizenry to decide if they are tolerant of flawed human beings or if political correctness to the extreme is the style of the day even if it scares away or chases away otherwise productive candidates and leaders.
None of this is to excuse some of the errors of the past four years under Trudeau’s watch that have harshly impacted small businesses in this country (as well as regular Canadians in various pockets of tax deduction including medically-related). Those decisions were certainly misguided (and showed a lack of how hard people work across this country) and have caused economic harm to families and their businesses in local and regional sectors.
However, we can wake up and put this black face incident into the obvious context of an election campaign where the major opponent (in this case the Conservatives trying to unseat the Liberals) will dig up and use anything to achieve their goal. Most people will say they are aware of the dirty tricks of politics. Well, if you are, don’t fall for the ruse. The black face road show was unearthed to intentionally derail the Liberals — but also the other parties and all of us who vote — from concentrating on the important issues.
At its core, deliberately bringing out those photos (previously unknown to pretty much everyone, one supposes) is a gross act of campaign manufacture — a Frankenstein if you will. It produces a manipulation of the public democratic process, and should not be given air (national media can take some blame for perpetuating the discourse for many days, working out their feelings of horror). It’s even too bad this editorial space had to grapple with the ill-intentioned distraction, but it’s part of the job.
There is still time to focus for the remaining few weeks on a more thoughtful, socially progressive discourse in this country during this 43rd election campaign period. Let’s hope voters do get past the discomforting mess of this week of the campaign and that all parties find ways to continue engaging with the public for reasons and goals that will move this country forward. As a country built and run by busy people — many of us still struggling to stay afloat or even ‘get ahead’ — we really only pause for this societal review when elections come up. Let’s not waste the remaining ‘moment’ that is now about 30 days.
As a footnote on political dynamics of the campaign, this scenario has been seized by the Conservatives under Andrew Scheer to try and grab back to their flock anyone who swayed Liberal in 2015. And for the NDP under Jagmeet Singh it has produced an opportunity for voters to look again at his party as generators of new directions in social policy. Either way, the Liberals — who in many polls are shown to be for many voters their ‘second choice‘ — are likely going to be shaved of votes off either side of the center-progressive spectrum.
Whoever dug out those black face / brown face photos and surfaced them in this campaign has probably ‘won’ some high fives among the Conservatives. That entire episode is evident success of what is playfully called ‘shenanigans’.
But this recent turmoil could produce serious consequences for this country that was seeing some progressive socioeconomic steps forward these past four years, not the least of which is scaring away otherwise qualified candidates who might choose to eschew the slimy underbelly of politics and the blinding glare of a politically-correct landscape that has become drunk on public shaming and blaming. Anyone who has made no error in their life may cast the first stone.
Trudeau’s leadership brought out good candidates in 2015 who have moved things forward in many areas of social and economic policy; those sorts of candidates with a wide range of skills in areas not first of politics could — in a climate of rabid political-correctness — justifiably take a pass on serving their communities through the channel that is elected office. If people with their hearts and minds in a good place decide to step back from politics, it is a loss for everyone.
Pretty much all of Trudeau’s candidates who served in 2015-2019 have stood by their leader this past week — not because they are ‘whipped’ to do so, but because they see the good works of the 42nd Parliament (including legislative influence from NDP MPs) that overall have moved Canadian society forward. Trans Mountain naysayers may think otherwise, but that ‘big purchase’ was about economics dealing with today’s infrastructure and related jobs as a way to help fund tomorrow’s green tech — dealing with the realities of today with a vision to the desired realities of tomorrow.
What sort of Canada do you want to see and be a part of? Voting is a special opportunity to seek the appropriate leadership skill in your choice of leader or party.
======== NOTES:
As first published in the September 20 to 22, 2019 print-PDF edition of West Shore Voice News, on page 2.