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Leadership? Pfft.

The Guelph Mercury, 5/20/2009

Leadership? Pfft. Who needs it? It’s not like we’ve got work to do.

Canada’s exports are drying up like free beer at a high school party. Personal bankruptcies are soaring. The unemployment insurance program is so swamped that job counsellors are coaching groups of 25 rather than one person at a time. On and on, our economy continues to shrink. Jobs, people’s retirement savings and the homes of the suddenly broke all disappear.

So what does Canada really need in tough times like these? You guessed it: political attack ads.

If you’ve turned on your TV or computer lately, you’ve probably seen a series of ads that portray Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff as an elitist snob who’s just dropped in from the polo grounds to make a run at Canada’s top elected office. The ads, paid for and approved by the Conservatives, all make reference to the fact he spent 34 years living and working outside of Canada.

One shows Ignatieff referring to himself as an American. Another declares the “only thing he missed about Canada was Algonquin Park.” A third claims he’s “just in it for himself.”

The Conservatives message is clear: Michael Ignatieff is an opportunistic, out-of-touch intellectual who prefers the company of high-society to Joe Canadian. As if being away makes you less of a “real” Canadian. Never mind the not-so-subtle message that sends to immigrants.

The ads are clearly a response to polls that suggest the Liberal leader is surging in popularity over our current prime minister. Ignatieff, meanwhile, dismissed the ads as being “old-style politics.” But that doesn’t mean he’s against the tactic — his Liberals have also been attacking Harper and the Conservatives.

If only our leaders spent less time on this vicious self-preservation and a little more time on preserving things for the rest of us.

Sure, Ignatieff said stupid things, like calling America his country.

But what does that have to do with how he would address the things that really affect Canadians’ lives — like their jobs, their environment, their safety, their education, their savings or their health?

Canadians should not accept these kind of ads, which only drag politics further into the gutter. They dumb down the whole political process, deflect from what we should be paying attention to, and turn people off of politicians. They’re insulting to voters who would like to make informed decisions on their governing options. Instead, all they get is slagging of rivals.

One anti-Ignatieff ad even asks: “Is he interested in people like you?”

Say it ain’t so! A political leader who doesn’t find me personally enthralling?

I don’t need my elected leaders to be interested in people like me. If Ignatieff were over for dinner, I’d expect he’d try to run out the door during the fifth retelling of the time I made a really great grilled-cheese sandwich by adding ranch dressing to the bread. Or the time I beat my brother at bowling by getting a strike just when I needed it.

I don’t care if my leaders are arrogant, self-entitled or egotistical. I do want them to be smart, visionary, hard-working, and good at solving problems, though. And I’d like them to tell me what they stand for and how they plan to address our country’s challenges — not tell me why the other guy is a jerk.

But the problem with attack ads is they seem to work. And that’s why political parties continue to use them. They aren’t interested in intelligent debates about policy and priorities. They just want to win. And they’ll do whatever it takes.