We’re all in a political petting zoo
What would the country look like if decisions were made by smart people?
It’s been a weird week, not gonna lie, what with Stampede and everyone trying to cosplay cowboy at what Alberta NDP Leader Naheed Nenshi famously described as a “political petting zoo.”
The things we learned this past week is that Mark Carney, the prime minister, is not a real cowboy. Neither is Pierre Poilievre even though he can ride a horse OK. No true boy of cow would be caught dead wearing a cereal-box sheriff badge. Or boasting that they’re better at the manly art of pancake flipping than the former governor of two central banks who splattered batter everywhere. Fortunately for Carney, pancake-flipping is not a required skill in his job.
I guess someone inhaled too much horseshit.
What if we was smart?
I’ve been obsessing for weeks on the need to have more smart people in positions of power — or at least decision-making — because we’ll need all our wits to survive this Trump mandate.
Since the end of the pandemic, it feels like the country has been a little adrift. I guess that’s natural; the pandemic forced us to focus, and hard. It feels like we’ve been recovering from the unusual effort ever since. But maybe it’s time to get a better grasp on things now? Surely we’ve recovered?
I’ve been thinking about visualizing a country run entirely by smart people making the smartest possible decisions in every single case. What would that look like?
Certainly removing internal trade barriers would be on the list. With very few exceptions, such as those that aim to protect cultural minorities. The most obvious exception is the need for French-language requirements in Quebec and other places where numbers warrant. But why on earth do we still have supply management for dairy farms? What is so special about Quebec cows that the farmers who own them must be protected from normal competition?
Transportation. Moving people and goods across the second largest country on the planet is a challenge and a necessity. Are we sure we’re doing all we can to make transportation as easy and efficient as it could be? Especially between cities that are relatively close to one another? Have you tried going from Sudbury to Peterborough using any method that’s not a private vehicle? And don’t get me started on urban transit, which should be so much better. Free to ride, too.
The right kind of safety. In my Ottawa Citizen column this week I talk about pedestrian scrambles and those are such a no-brainer you don’t even need a brain to get why they should be implemented right away at all the urban intersections where they make sense.
You know what else makes people feel safe? A roof over their head and food on their table. Those are becoming increasingly difficult to get, and until we solve that we will not have a society that lives up to its potential. And one where the despair of many will encroach on everyone’s dreams.
Earlier this week I took the teens to Walmart because one of them had a need for anti-slip shoes. Student jobs often require those. Except these days those student jobs are harder than usual to get, in part because there are more people vying for them.
I hadn’t been to Walmart in some time and I was aghast when the teens pointed out the baby formula behind lock and key… and the anti-slip shoes with anti-theft doodads attached to them.
Let’s be clear, if you’re at the point of stealing $40 shoes to work in a commercial kitchen at minimum wage, or stealing formula to feed your baby, you clearly are in dire need of help. Instead you get a lock in your face and security guards at the door.
What would a smart leader do in this kind of situation?
I can tell you what 100% of our current leaders are doing about it. Nothing, is what. They’re not talking about it, not thinking about it. They’re probably not even aware that there are so many people desperate to steal baby formula that Walmart is spending considerable resources on anti-theft devices. Desperate people who are made even more desperate by being left to solve their problems by themselves. It only gets worse from there. I’m not saying Walmart has a special responsibility to feed hungry babies. I’m saying leaders should be working on solving this issue so that every baby has enough to eat. Why this needs to be said is mind-boggling.
There is more to governing than keeping taxes low and boasting about your pancake-flipping skills. We are suffering from a tragic dearth of smart people in positions where they can make a real difference and improve the lives of everyone.