The word “democracy” comes from the Greek words “demos”, meaning people, and “kratos”, meaning power. So, democracy can be thought of as “power of the people”, a way of governing that depends on the will of the people. We elect representatives to make decisions on our behalf. Here we are heading into 2024 in Canada and the latest data from the non-profit Angus Reid Institute finds levels of contentment with government across some key issues are continuing to slide downward. As we have come through arguably the largest public health crisis in generations, the proportion of respondents across the country saying their government has done well on health care has dropped in half on average over the past four years, from 49% in early 2020 to 24% now. Provincially, Saskatchewan did a bit better than the national average but still dropped from 56% in 2020 to 31% now. Overall, there are zero provinces in the study that have seen their average approval ratings for the year improve on any of four key issues, health care, education, drug and addiction policy, and housing affordability. All of those are the responsibility of provincial governments, although one could argue that all three levels of government are involved one way or another in housing. It’s time for our elected representatives to knuckle down, buckle down, get to it and figure out how to solve these four issues. That’s the will of the people. That’s democracy.
That’s Coffeetalk. I’m Vic Dubois.