Annoyed, angry, irate, and Albertan? The province again finds itself out-raging the other provinces according to a survey of Canadian moods conducted by Pollara Strategic Insights.
The Rage Index polls Canadians on how they feel about federal and provincial governments, the economy and personal finances, news stories, and changes happening in the country. While 57 per cent of Canadians said they were angry or annoyed about the six topics, 63 per cent of Albertans did.
From high energy bills to climate change, there is no shortage of material reasons to be upset. But the provinceSA国际影视传媒檚 us-vs-them political culture also shares some of the blame, said Trevor Harrison, sociology professor at the University of Lethbridge and co-editor of Anger and Angst: Jason KenneySA国际影视传媒檚 Legacy and AlbertaSA国际影视传媒檚 Right.
SA国际影视传媒淚tSA国际影视传媒檚 politically manufactured here so that people are constantly being told that you are hard done by, that you are under attack, and that the people who are attacking you or these various enemies outside. Even when good things happen, thereSA国际影视传媒檚 a sense that all these people outside are gonna do you dirt,SA国际影视传媒� Harrison said.
This SA国际影视传媒渆xtremely partisanSA国际影视传媒� culture didnSA国际影视传媒檛 spring up overnight, but it has emerged over time as a tactic that is politically useful in the province, he said. The outsider threat bonds people closely even between elections, and during elections drives support for whatever provincial conservative party positions themselves at the barricades against Ottawa or internal enemies, he said.
Studies have found anger motivates people to participate in elections, while anxiety and enthusiasm donSA国际影视传媒檛. Displays of anger from politicians are often mirrored by party supporters, according to research led by political scientists from Colorado. Though useful in the short term, stoking such strong emotion also drives division and comes with lasting social consequences.
SA国际影视传媒淭he thing about anger is that it is short. So the psychology of it is, we call anger and approach related emotion,SA国际影视传媒� said Dr. Sean Moore, associate professor of psychology at the University of Alberta Augustana campus.
SA国际影视传媒淚tSA国际影视传媒檚 often used to sort of get things started in terms of collective action, like getting involved in protest movements. But what they find is that itSA国际影视传媒檚 actually something thatSA国际影视传媒檚 difficult to sustain.SA国际影视传媒�
More than politics
Politicians arenSA国际影视传媒檛 the sole source of anger. As the survey notes, economic anxieties and international conflicts underlie much of the current dissatisfaction. SA国际影视传媒淏ut when politicians add to this, theySA国际影视传媒檙e adding fuel to the fire,SA国际影视传媒� Harrison said.
SA国际影视传媒淭his is when we see examples of extremist actions. Domestically, you can see domestic extremism but also sort of when it leads to acts of prejudice and discrimination and hate crimes. Those things definitely increase when politicians focus on that kind of divisiveness that feeds anger.SA国际影视传媒�
Political conflict is in some ways SA国际影视传媒渂aked in the cake of confederationSA国际影视传媒� with the division of powers between the federal and provincial governments, Harrison said. Rather than being the impetus for healthy debate, these conflicts are often elevated to the level of SA国际影视传媒減olite warfareSA国际影视传媒� by AlbertaSA国际影视传媒檚 political elite.
SA国际影视传媒淵ou can see this right now with all kinds of things around climate change initiatives, the carbon tax everything else. It has to be a really intense conflict.SA国际影视传媒�
SA国际影视传媒淭here are events that have happened in the past that become kind of mythological in terms of the fact that Alberta is going to be a victim once more of the rest of Canada. Even when things are good in Alberta SA国际影视传媒� we have the highest incomes in the country lots of things that are going well for the province SA国际影视传媒� but again, thereSA国际影视传媒檚 constant anger about external forces.SA国际影视传媒�
Harrison remarked that he had been going through files in his office and saw newspaper headlines from era of the Jean Chretien Liberals that could just as easily be used today.
The front page headlines of the Edmonton Sun newspaper on Dec. 8 read SA国际影视传媒淣EP SA国际影视传媒楢LL OVER AGAINSA国际影视传媒�: Danielle Smith pushes back against fedsSA国际影视传媒� heavy-handed emissions planSA国际影视传媒� and SA国际影视传媒淔eds target West again.SA国际影视传媒�
Though politically useful, the anger elicited by these conflicts doesnSA国际影视传媒檛 do much to address the economic uncertainty or the high cost of living that is troubling many Albertans, Harrison said.
SA国际影视传媒淎cross the board, I have to say I think our political classes or political parties are not doing a very good job of addressing those real concerns,SA国际影视传媒� he said.
SA国际影视传媒淭he longer real concerns are not addressed in a practical, material way, then anger continues to fester there. And this is where fairly unscrupulous populist leaders, as weSA国际影视传媒檙e seeing in various parts of the world, can provide kind of a quick and dirty solution SA国际影视传媒� SA国际影视传媒榞ive all powers to me and I will change things in one month because ISA国际影视传媒檒l go after the enemies that are hindering or causing the problems that you have.SA国际影视传媒�
SA国际影视传媒淚 am concerned with the fact that this anger is just kind of brewing there. But it particularly has been really brewing here in Alberta for some period of time SA国际影视传媒� We need to get back to some more civil but also pragmatic discourse that actually does deal with the real issues head-on.SA国际影视传媒�
Along with the social ills following from rage-based rhetoric, politicians who take up that tactic are also SA国际影视传媒減laying with fireSA国际影视传媒� for the success of their own party, Moore said. The same things that can foster engagement with a movement can turn against you if that clear enemy is no longer present.
SA国际影视传媒淚n Alberta, we typically use the federal government as a foil. But when, for example, Stephen Harper was in power, that was a government that was more representative of AlbertaSA国际影视传媒檚 interests, and that anger turned against our political mainstream. When you think of things like the Stelmach and Redford governments, the parties tended to tear themselves apart.SA国际影视传媒�
SA国际影视传媒擝y Brett McKay, Local Journalism Initiative reporter, St. Albert Gazette
