Time for a Social Media Intervention
A Bit of Advice to our Political Leaders That Feels Appropriate to Offer in this Moment
In a post earlier this week I made a passing reference to something that has really been bothering me this week. Like really, really bothering me, and like many things that bring about those kinds of emotions these days, it involves social media. I’m talking about the general degeneration of our political conversation in this world, and how it has gotten so much worse in the worst place for it; social media. Twitter is the worst locale today for this, and it was an exchange that happened on Twitter that pushed me to write this. So for appropriate context, here are some screenshots of the exchange itself:
As a quick aside, I would have just embedded the Tweets themselves here but can’t do that no more on Substack thanks to a certain billionaire tech mogul, but that’s a story for another day.
In the meantime, this was an exchange between the leaders of two of Canada’s political parties, both running to be the next Prime Minister of Canada, a G7 nation and an advanced economy. Calling that an exchange is being highly generous, a generosity that I just can’t continue with for the rest of this post because even after a couple of days of cooling off from, I’m still upset and embarrassed by whatever the sweet ever-loving f*ck that was.
Seriously, how have we gotten to the point where two people who claim to want to be our PM devote even a microsecond of their time, their staffs time, or their energy to getting into a sh*tposting, clap back fest on a random Tuesday afternoon. To call it childish would be insulting to most children I know because they are a hell of a lot of respectful of one another than that display, and they would be embarrassed to be seen taking part in such crap. And do you know what probably the worst part about this is? I wasn’t shocked or surprised to see it happen. It seemed like it was bound to eventually go down in a Twitter tantrum of a throw-down.
That doesn’t make it right and enough is enough of this crap from our leaders. It especially bothers me coming from these two because we’re all the same age, born in the same year (1979 represent!!!). They are at the front of this generational change in our politics where baby boomers, who ruled the roost for decades, are now stepping aside and handing the mantle to our generation. You’d think that those receiving it would take note of the historic nature of that and treat it appropriately but by virtue of the fact that I needed to even write this, that’s clearly not the case.
When it comes to Mr. Poilievre, I’m the least shocked by this crap. This has been his calling card for all his years in Parliament. He honestly doesn’t give a flying f*ck, he’s happy being the attack dog and just being this guy. This has been his shtick for years. And when I say years, I do mean many, many years. Remember this is how Mr. Poilievre made his first introduction onto the national scene:
That folks was back in November 1998, almost 25 years ago. Pierre Poilievre, wearing a Jean Chretien mask that accentuated his Bell’s Palsy, the same kind of accentuation that help sink the Progressive Conservative dynasty just five years prior. I feel very safe in assuming that he thought it was a hilarious thing to do, because why else do it on the floor of a national political convention with members of the Parliamentary Press Gallery on hand to catch it all on film?
If you knew nothing else about the man in the 25 years that came after, you could easily say that the kid did something stupid at 19 and we all do stupid stuff at that age. You could say that we all grow up, mature, and learn from mistakes like that one. And you know what, that would normally be a pretty safe assumption. But here is the thing about that; we do know what he has been up to for nearly 19 of those past 25 years. He’s been in Parliament all that time, acting very much in the same manner, tone, and demeanor. That’s part of how he earned the nickname “Skippy.” Where most people would have grown out of those traits through time and experience, he’s doubled down on them and leaned into them.
Instead of growing out of that phase, he’s simply aged around it. I have said in many other forums that if Mr. Poilievre ever wanted to break through and become Prime Minister, he would need to show some personal growth. If he ever did that, it would likely answer one of the biggest strikes against him. But what this exchange showed this week was that he sees no need for that. He didn’t type in the Tweet, “replying” to someone else’s message that wasn’t even directed at him to try to score a cheap point. But when it happened, he clearly approved because the damn this is still there three days later, along with an even lower shot taken at a former Governor General, on official letterhead no less. This is who is his is folks, and you could say that is his excuse.
But for Mr. Singh, what exactly is his excuse. Jagmeet Singh has been eating the Conservatives lunch for well over a year, getting things accomplished for people. He’s been implementing his policy agenda as the fourth party, while the Official Opposition, with five times more members, hasn’t accomplished much at all. I know that grates against some in that caucus who are in Parliament to serve their constituents and not simply howl at the other side in outrage all day. So I understand why Mr. Poilievre would decide to take a pot shot at Mr. Singh, that’s totally foreseeable.
The part that bothers me here is that Mr. Singh decided to engage in this elementary school, chicken fight on Twitter. He has been fighting back against accusations for years that he is not a serious politician, that he spends too much time on Twitter, and all that kind of stuff. In response, he’s been using his leverage to actually get things done for Canadians, also known as his job. He’s been doing it to great effect, winning plaudits and getting lots of credit for trying to change the tone of Parliament and our politics. That is growth, that is maturity and that is what we expect from our political leaders when they rise to such positions.
Yet after doing all those right things, making all that progress, and making many New Democrats like me proud in the process, this sh*t happens. There is nothing wrong with what he pointed out about what Mr. Poilievre has voted again, but the rest just made me cringe. Mr. Singh is a fighter, which is one of his good qualities. But this was not a “fight” he should have gotten into on social media. Just because Mr. Poilievre decides to act like he does, doesn’t mean that Mr. Singh has to give his efforts oxygen by replying to them, no matter how snappy the comeback might feel. And what’s worse is that in doing so, people like me came away with the same feelings of annoyance and frustration towards both of them. A pox on both their bloody houses!
Sometimes the best messages one can send are the ones we don’t send at all, and I came away from this “episode” feeling just that way. What’s worse to me is that this wasn’t some one-off thing that happened but is more of what is becoming normal. And for what? All in the search of “engagement,” “clicks” and hopefully new leads for donations? In search of those things, they’re doing serious damage to the greater political discourse. Avoiding that damage should come above all else, yet that simply isn’t happening.
To both of these gentlemen of the same age and vintage as I (and to any other politicians taking notes), I only have this piece of advice to offer: drop the crap, step up and simply do better! This isn’t good enough, not even close to it. If you truly aspire to lead our country, then actually lead us by example. Raise the bar, raise the discourse on places like Twitter and don’t simply follow. If you can show true leadership on a social media platform, I’m not sure how you can expect us to believe that you can suddenly do it on a much greater one like the Prime Ministers office. So yeah, please do better and if you can’t or won’t do that, it will be totally on you. As a fellow child of 1979, I’m hoping for the more positive outcome here, even if that feels a bit too hopeful. What can I say? It’s in my nature.