Thanks Justin for a thoughtful review of the report. I’m going to read through the volumes myself. As for dialogue, I have difficulty in believing that with such differing ideas of what a « fact » is, we would do anything more than go around in circles and become further entrenched in our positions and frustrations with the « other side …
Thanks Justin for a thoughtful review of the report. I’m going to read through the volumes myself. As for dialogue, I have difficulty in believing that with such differing ideas of what a « fact » is, we would do anything more than go around in circles and become further entrenched in our positions and frustrations with the « other side ».
After spending years working in federal and provincial politics at both the riding level and in cabinet, one thing I do believe is that we need to start teaching civics better. I can’t count the number of riding cases I’ve had with people who had no idea what their MNAs office did and were so grateful when we solved a hydro or revenue file, smoothed over an immigration hiccup or helped their non-profit access program funding they didn’t know they could get. The same goes for understanding an MPs job, the role of the public service and, one area I am particularly focusing on with some of my local mayors and city managers, creating a course on how municipal governments run. But I digress.
The point is, I believe it is far more difficult to be caught up in conspiracy theories and misinformation when you understand how government works; know where to check to see what was really said in committee, in parliament, in a public health order, etc and use that knowledge to hold government to account. It also might help more people actually considering running for office and giving us representation that truly reflects our population.
I may be wildly off topic, but on my mind today after the report was released.
I don't think we can ignore the relationship between trust in government and belief in conspiracy theories.
I'm sort of hostile to the idea that civics education is much of a fix. I think rather than foisting the responsibility onto citizens, we should expect more from our government. MNAs offices, e.g., being more proactive and helpful would probably do a lot more than a new unit in high school to underline role of government and build trust.
I'm constantly telling people who are having difficult getting a passport or receiving benefits or regulating their immigration status to call up their MP — they're often dazzled by the idea that their local politician can actually pull levers and help them.
I've also had friends/colleagues/acquaintances who have had great experiences dealing with their local politicians' office, and who come away with a lot more faith in the system; vs. people who have a terrible experience (get ignored, brushed off, etc) who lose a lot of that faith.
I think that’s a bit of a leap from what I wrote. I never suggested foisting a new civics class on high schools. I too think it is incumbent on government to be more proactive and helpful to its citizens which is why what I’m working on is a program to help local mayors and city managers make municipal government more accessible and understandable to its citizens. None of us knows what we don’t know and while what I seek is greater outreach by municipal government, the citizens and groups I am talking to as part of my research are also excited about acquiring a better understanding of how things work. I got involved in politics in my late 30s and was embarrassed by my lack of knowledge of who did what at any level of government. If asked, I would not have known who to call for help with an issue. I’m grateful for the people who answered every dumb question while never making me feel stupid.
So I think that when I see opponents of municipal governments go from “the mayor hasn’t gotten back to me with an answer about the new stop sign I want” TO “she’s a self-serving b*itch, doesn’t care about the citizens and is running the city like a dictator,” there is something I can do to at least explain that it's a hell of a lot faster to get things moving inside the city when you call the city manager directly, rather than writing the mayor and then waiting for the mayor to go talk to the city manager, get input from the city manager and then get back to you. You can still believe that the mayor is a self-serving b*tch, but you won’t be able to say so because you chose to take a circuitous route to make your request and are waiting for the process to play out.
No elected official should be giving any citizen the brush off. It’s unacceptable. On any issue big or small. And if they’ve been around a long time, shame on them. But there is also no school or class on how to be an elected official or staffer and how to run a riding office. You get elected for the first time and you learn on the job how to serve and respond to your constituents. That in itself is another problem for another day.
Sorry, wasn't trying to be dismissive. There are folks out there who pitch education as a kind of cure-all.
But we're speaking the same language about democratic representation. The constant trend towards defending elected officials' offices is worsening this trend. More capacity inside those offices means better training, more service, etc. Pushing out better, easy-to-understand, guides on how to navigate government — I.e. go to the city manager first — absolutely helps that along.
Thanks Justin for a thoughtful review of the report. I’m going to read through the volumes myself. As for dialogue, I have difficulty in believing that with such differing ideas of what a « fact » is, we would do anything more than go around in circles and become further entrenched in our positions and frustrations with the « other side ».
After spending years working in federal and provincial politics at both the riding level and in cabinet, one thing I do believe is that we need to start teaching civics better. I can’t count the number of riding cases I’ve had with people who had no idea what their MNAs office did and were so grateful when we solved a hydro or revenue file, smoothed over an immigration hiccup or helped their non-profit access program funding they didn’t know they could get. The same goes for understanding an MPs job, the role of the public service and, one area I am particularly focusing on with some of my local mayors and city managers, creating a course on how municipal governments run. But I digress.
The point is, I believe it is far more difficult to be caught up in conspiracy theories and misinformation when you understand how government works; know where to check to see what was really said in committee, in parliament, in a public health order, etc and use that knowledge to hold government to account. It also might help more people actually considering running for office and giving us representation that truly reflects our population.
I may be wildly off topic, but on my mind today after the report was released.
I don't think we can ignore the relationship between trust in government and belief in conspiracy theories.
I'm sort of hostile to the idea that civics education is much of a fix. I think rather than foisting the responsibility onto citizens, we should expect more from our government. MNAs offices, e.g., being more proactive and helpful would probably do a lot more than a new unit in high school to underline role of government and build trust.
I'm constantly telling people who are having difficult getting a passport or receiving benefits or regulating their immigration status to call up their MP — they're often dazzled by the idea that their local politician can actually pull levers and help them.
I've also had friends/colleagues/acquaintances who have had great experiences dealing with their local politicians' office, and who come away with a lot more faith in the system; vs. people who have a terrible experience (get ignored, brushed off, etc) who lose a lot of that faith.
I think that’s a bit of a leap from what I wrote. I never suggested foisting a new civics class on high schools. I too think it is incumbent on government to be more proactive and helpful to its citizens which is why what I’m working on is a program to help local mayors and city managers make municipal government more accessible and understandable to its citizens. None of us knows what we don’t know and while what I seek is greater outreach by municipal government, the citizens and groups I am talking to as part of my research are also excited about acquiring a better understanding of how things work. I got involved in politics in my late 30s and was embarrassed by my lack of knowledge of who did what at any level of government. If asked, I would not have known who to call for help with an issue. I’m grateful for the people who answered every dumb question while never making me feel stupid.
So I think that when I see opponents of municipal governments go from “the mayor hasn’t gotten back to me with an answer about the new stop sign I want” TO “she’s a self-serving b*itch, doesn’t care about the citizens and is running the city like a dictator,” there is something I can do to at least explain that it's a hell of a lot faster to get things moving inside the city when you call the city manager directly, rather than writing the mayor and then waiting for the mayor to go talk to the city manager, get input from the city manager and then get back to you. You can still believe that the mayor is a self-serving b*tch, but you won’t be able to say so because you chose to take a circuitous route to make your request and are waiting for the process to play out.
No elected official should be giving any citizen the brush off. It’s unacceptable. On any issue big or small. And if they’ve been around a long time, shame on them. But there is also no school or class on how to be an elected official or staffer and how to run a riding office. You get elected for the first time and you learn on the job how to serve and respond to your constituents. That in itself is another problem for another day.
Sorry, wasn't trying to be dismissive. There are folks out there who pitch education as a kind of cure-all.
But we're speaking the same language about democratic representation. The constant trend towards defending elected officials' offices is worsening this trend. More capacity inside those offices means better training, more service, etc. Pushing out better, easy-to-understand, guides on how to navigate government — I.e. go to the city manager first — absolutely helps that along.