Lately, when I’m scrolling online and following our political discourse, I have this really unpleasant feeling in my belly.
I’m finding myself increasingly horrified at how low some politicians are willing to go.
They’re willing to mislead the public despite being clearly fact-checked, they’re willing to downplay the accusations of residential school denialism, and they’re willing to lend their credibility to an increasingly worrying cast of characters.
But there’s something that makes this topic difficult to talk about, as a journalist: it’s an issue that is almost unique to the Conservative Party.
That’s not to say that Liberals or other politicians don’t ever lie, mislead or amplify a bad source. But the bulk of this problem — and the constant refusal to course correct — is really dominated by Conservatives.
Because of that reality, it’s near-impossible to report on this dangerous trend without being smeared as partisan, or anti-Conservative.
I actually think this was part of what made me so unpopular with the right wing starting years ago: I was debunking dogwhistles and conspiracies. It was just a fact that both were more commonly deployed by the political right, so I tended to have more of those fact-checking pieces focused on conservative politicians. Then folks would scream about my critical reporting on conservatives, as if I should manufacture a false balance to pretend this is happening equally across the political spectrum — when it isn’t.
But it’s an issue that hasn’t improved in recent years. If anything, it’s worsened.
We have a political leadership hopeful in B.C. touting the work of Mario Zelaya in “explaining how policy decisions affect all of us in very real ways.”
That’s the same Mario Zelaya who AFP has repeatedly fact-checked as he spread misleading claims. Zelaya also got a personal call from Pierre Poilievre thanking him for his work.
Conservatives have freaked out over a media industry representative who works in entertainment — fictional entertainment — saying he has Carney’s back. This clip was used to discredit news media as partisan, despite the man having no ties to the news industry. MPs refused to correct this lie, instead repeating the claim several times over.
Many of the same Conservative MPs are now attacking CBC and APTN over a parody show. They’re accusing the show (which isn’t affiliated with the news arm of either organization) of “targeting conservatives” — but it targeted individuals accused of downplaying the horrors of residential schools. Perhaps, to those MPs, those groups are one and the same.
I could list more examples, and in today’s video, I will. But the overarching question I ask in today’s piece is this: where are ethics going in Canadian politics? How low are we willing to go?
I’d love to hear your thoughts.
