Every Man for Himself - Canadians Losing Faith in Government

We have lost confidence in government, provincial and federal, to tackle pressing issues.   It seems we have finally realized the people who are at the driver's seat are asleep at the wheel and content to remain that way.

"... a new Institute for Research on Public Policy-Nanos Research survey suggests a lack of confidence in the ability of provincial and federal governments to solve some pressing issues.

The findings, to be published next week in Policy Options magazine, attempt to connect issues Canadians identified as their top priorities with the confidence they felt in federal and provincial governments' ability to find solutions.

"When Canadians see their elected officials gathering, they expect them to do something. They expect them to accomplish something," he says.

"Canadians are more likely not to have confidence, and the sad thing is that confidence relates to many issues that are very very important to them. I think it’s almost a public policy despair," Nanos adds.

Not surprisingly, Nanos found the Harper Conservatives are "cherry picking" issues that are easy to deliver results on and dodging the tough problems such as climate change, education and improving living standards.   Collecting cheques form foreigners extracting and peddling bitumen, however, seems entirely suited to this government's abilities.   Just don't ask them to do anything to make Canada a decent place for your grandkids.