The Importance of Empathy in the Permacrisis Era
Canadians want change, but they want empathy, not aggression.
My friend and former Abacus Data colleague, Bruce Anderson, recently raised an interesting point about a polling question almost all pollsters ask – do people’s perceptions about the direction of the country correlate with their political views? He notes that Abacus Data’s “right track” measure is down 22 points over the past two years. Today, only 18% think the country is headed in the right direction. At the same time, the federal government’s approval rating is down only 3 points over the same period.
At a time when Canadians are feeling anxious about their personal financial circumstances and global conflict and climate change remind us daily how fragile the world is, what people want from their political leaders is different.
I don’t think it’s a coincidence that on Monday, Torontonians elected Olivia Chow as Mayor, a social democrat who ran on making Toronto a more caring city. Throughout the campaign, she empathized with people struggling to pay the rent and get by in Canada’s largest city.
Federally, Canadians are looking for a change. Two weeks ago, I released polling results that showed 80% of Canadians want a change in government, but a sizeable portion of this group isn’t comfortable with the alternatives. They worry about how the NDP would manage the economy and feel the Conservatives don’t care enough about climate change, poverty, or protecting the social programs they rely on more every day.
In this environment, I think most people are evaluating political leaders by asking two key questions:
1. Do you understand what I’m feeling and going through?
2. Are you genuinely committed to solving the challenges we face or at a minimum easing the impacts?
In my view, the Conservatives and Pierre Poilievre have been good at #1, while the Liberals and Trudeau have struggled with the empathy or “understands what life is like” part.
However, the Liberals have a lot to say about #2 – childcare, dental care, rebates, etc – but have had challenges communicating it. The Conservatives, on the other hand, have struggled with #2. Part of it stems from being an opposition party months out from an election (policy solutions will come). But part of it is the tone and approach. It feels like they would rather motivate the base and “be right” than convince accessible voters that they’d do a better job.
As I told Susan Delacourt last week, the Conservatives don’t need to convince Canadians they want or need change. But they have a lot of work to do convincing them they are the change Canada needs right now.
As we head towards the next federal election, these dynamics are critical to understanding how it might end. The electorate will want change. They will be feeling anxious. Leaders who are empathetic and offer solutions will be more appealing. But political change isn’t a certainty.