Pubdate: Fri, 20 Jun 2014 Source: National Post (Canada) Copyright: 2014 Canwest Publishing Inc. Contact: http://drugsense.org/url/wEtbT4yU Website: http://www.nationalpost.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/286 Page: A8 A POX ON ALL THEIR ATTACKS ADS The Ontario Election Shows the Degree to Which Voters Have Written Off Politicians As a Class With only days to go before a federal byelection in the Toronto riding formerly held by Liberal Jim Karygiannis, Conservatives have begun circulating a leaflet that portrays Justin Trudeau as a pot-happy drug dealer, eager to get kids hooked on drugs. Well, it's kind of, sort of, half true: horrifically distorted, but based on the real Liberal proposal to decriminalize marijuana, which could open the way to a legal retail trade. Except the Liberal plan would include strict controls aimed at restricting sales, both to put criminals out of business and to protect kids from easily accessible dope. The Liberals may cry foul at this sort of blatant, below-the-belt dishonesty, but wait a minute: Mr. Trudeau spent part of the past month campaigning with Ontario Liberal leader Kathleen Wynne, who won a surprising majority government a week ago, while deploying the same sort of manic fear-mongering. Most notoriously, as voting day approached, a Liberal candidate circulated a leaflet picturing Progressive Conservative leader Tim Hudak as a crazed terrorist, cackling maniacally against the background of an exploding hospital. The scene was cribbed from The Dark Knight, with Mr. Hudak substituted for the Joker. Ms. Wynne quickly apologized, but not before extensive publicity fixed the image in the public mind. Such antics are why it's best to take a deep breath before giving much credibility to the feigned outrage of political leaders who find themselves the target of attack ads. As in much of the world, Canadian politicians have been active participants in recent years in undermining their own credibility, to the point that voters hardly ever take them seriously. It's as if the political universe has been Twitterized, with complex issues and important debates reduced to a few cynical words that attack opponents' weaknesses in the most lurid and hyperbolic way possible. As columnist Andrew Coyne noted on Wednesday, the federal Conservatives have engaged in so much "high-handed, overthe-top" rhetoric since coming to power eight years ago, that when they need public support for an important project such as the Northern Gateway pipeline, they find the public disinclined to take them seriously. The Conservatives are not alone. The recent Ontario election demonstrated the degree to which voters have written off politicians as a class. Mr. Hudak ran a poor campaign, but with an accurate message: Ontario's fiscal situation is dire and serious efforts are needed to address it. Ms. Wynne offered no credible plan, and pledged to keep spending. She won because voters took to the grandmotherly image she perfected, while others in the party falsely denounced Mr. Hudak as an extremist. Politicians and the public alike are to blame for this. Long before Mr. Harper appeared on the scene, Liberal governments specialized in reducing opponents to caricatures and running against the parody rather than the opponent. Mr. Harper's contribution has been to take this practice to new levels of cynicism via 24/7 campaigning that never ceases to seek out opposition weaknesses to distort and exploit, in the search for votes and campaign funding. While Mr. Trudeau has vowed a different approach, it's been all talk and no action so far: His party's "position" on the Northern Gateway pipeline has been to depict the Tories in crude and cartoonish terms, as environment-despoiling barbarians happily trampling over the pristine countryside in search of new territory to ruin. Many voters, sadly, lap it up. The tendency of social media has been to further reduce public issues to a form of "gotcha" entertainment, in which points are scored for short-term gains and a quick hit on YouTube at the expense of informed debate or any serious understanding of important issues. Not until Canadians start making candidates pay for their dishonesty, is the situation likely to reverse. And they aren't likely to begin that process until they start educating themselves on issues beyond what they can learn in 140 characters or less. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom