A number of MPs say Canada’s democracy is under pressure on a number of fronts, thanks in part to the impacts of social media and extreme partisanship.
But the eight MPs who took part in a series of one-on-one interviews with CBC’s The House over the summer also expressed a hope that changes to the Canadian system, and a deeper understanding of one another, could lead to better politics.
MPs from across the country sat down with CBC reporters for conversations in their home ridings. They aired as a special summer series on The House called “Backbenchers’ backyards.”
Many of the MPs said they’re concerned about the role social media plays in democracy. Several argued it exacerbates differences and gets in the way of constructive conversations.
The House49:34From cows to cockpits: Our summer talking to MPs in their ridings
In a special, end-of-summer edition of The House, the program looks back at some of the most interesting, enlightening and intense parts of our summer series. CBC journalists spoke to eight different MPs about what inspired them to get into politics, their hopes for their time in Ottawa and what they love most about their ridings.
“This sounds like I’m an old man. And maybe I am. But if I could get rid of one thing in society, it would be the cell phone,” said Conservative MP Stephen Ellis, who represents the riding of Cumberland-Colchester in Nova Scotia.
“Sadly, I use two of them every day.”
Ellis also said this country doesn’t do enough to teach children and young adults how to express sadness and hurt in ways that don’t manifest as anger.
“We need to sit with people and we need to hear them. We need to hear what their words are and understand what their issues are,” he said.
Christine Normandin, a Bloc Québécois MP representing Saint-Jean, also has a jaundiced view of the role social media plays in political life.
“I have a few colleagues of mine who were there in previous elections telling me that if they ever retire from politics, it’s going to be for two reasons,” she said.
“Either they will be old enough, or they will have enough of it because of social media.”
Reaching people in the real world
Several MPs, including Normandin, said they’re trying to combat isolation and other potential effects of social media in a simple way — by meeting people in person.
Liberal MP Sameer Zuberi, representing the Quebec riding of Pierrefonds-Dollard, said he thinks the 2021 election actually helped to bring more people together in a difficult time during the pandemic.
“Our social relationships were strained and I think the fabric of democracy also, as a result of not being in contact, was strained. And so the human contact through connecting with voters in election time … is extremely important,” he said.
For some MPs, the negativity of social media has crossed into both threatened and real abuse.
Jenny Kwan, NDP MP for Vancouver East, said she worries about rising extremism on the right, inspired by former U.S. president Donald Trump.
“I saw how people became very much open to the whole idea of discrimination and racism and and white supremacy openly,” she said. “And I’m seeing some of that, you know, emerging in our community.”
Just as she and CBC reporter Anne Penman were discussing the issue in Kwan’s riding, the MP was confronted by someone who began to shout racist abuse at her, including, “You don’t belong here, Jenny” and “Go home, Jenny.”
“I hope that anger comes from a place of need, for people to be heard and be supported. So I work hard not to take it personally, even though it’s very personal and sometimes very hurtful,” Kwan said.
“I’ve had people say to my face, for example, with COVID-19, that it is the ‘Kwan virus.'”
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Kwan’s caucus colleague, Nunavut MP Lori Idlout, said the wave of threats aimed at MPs last year was one of two things that made her fear for Canadian democracy — the other being the 2022 convoy protests.
“MPs as lawmakers need to know that they can do their work without fear, without knowing that their families’ lives are at risk because of what other threats might be given to them,” Idlout said.
While she sometimes feels down about the state of democracy, Kwan said there’s often a simple fix.
“I will come back and I will walk the streets. I’ll reconnect with people, talk to the people,” she said. “Not as a politician, just as a human being. And [I] ground myself. Then I realize why I’m here.”
Reaching out
Many MPs agreed that a sense of dislocation, of being misunderstood or devalued, lies at the heart of some of the anger present in Canadian politics.
Conservative MP Fraser Tolmie spoke at length of how many of his constituents in the Saskatchewan riding of Moose Jaw-Lake-Centre-Lanigan felt alienated by politics in Ottawa.
“They feel frustrated,” he said. “Because, you know, the challenges that they’re facing — they feel like they’re not being heard.”
That view was echoed by his fellow Conservative MP Michael Barrett, in Leeds-Grenville-Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes, who argued policies like the carbon tax punished activities that people in his riding saw as simply part of their everyday lives and livelihoods.
Tolmie said his job is to make sure he’s listening to his constituents.
“When ego and pride get in the way and it’s my way or the highway, then you’ve lost touch with the people that you represent. And you have to remember that not everybody voted for you,” he said.
Each MP saw slightly different solutions to the problems facing Canadian politics, but many focused on a shift in understanding — and a collective increase in patience and civility.
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Liberal Iqwinder Gaheer, the MP for Mississauga-Malton, said he worries about widespread democratic backsliding around the world.
“I think Canada has kept its borders open and kept its heart open,” he said. “That doesn’t mean that we should take it for granted.”
Gaheer, one of several MPs interviewed this summer who immigrated to Canada, made a call for a new shared understanding of common purpose among politicians.
“Essentially, it has to be that understanding that we are not Liberal Canadians, we are not Conservative Canadians, we are not Bloc, NDP — we are Canadians.”
The “Bacbkbenchers’ Backyards” summer series was compiled from interviews conducted across the country by Catherine Cullen, Jennifer Chevalier, Emma Godmere, Kristen Everson, Christian Paas-Lang, Mary-Catherine McIntosh, Anne Penman and Nick Murray. You can find links to every episode here.
Montreal Alouettes wide receiver Tyson Philpot has announced he will be out for the rest of the CFL season.
The Delta, B.C., native posted the news on his Instagram page Thursday.
“To Be Continued. Shoutout my team, the fans of the CFL and the whole city of Montreal! I can’t wait to be back healthy and write this next chapter in 2025,” the statement read.
Philpot, 24, injured his foot in a 33-23 win over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on Aug. 10 and was placed on the six-game injured list the next week.
The six-foot-one, 195-pound receiver had 58 receptions, 779 yards and five touchdowns in nine games for the league-leading Alouettes in his third season.
Philpot scored the game-winning touchdown in Montreal’s Grey Cup win last season to punctuate a six-reception, 63-yard performance.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa sustained a concussion for the third time in his NFL career, leaving his team’s game Thursday night against Buffalo after running into defensive back Damar Hamlin and hitting the back of his head against the turf.
Tagovailoa remained down for about two minutes before getting to his feet and walking to the sideline after the play in the third quarter. He made his way to the tunnel not long afterward, looking into the stands before smiling and departing toward the locker room.
The Dolphins needed almost no time before announcing it was a concussion. The team said he had two during the 2022 season, and Tagovailoa was diagnosed with another concussion when he was a college player at Alabama.
Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel said Tagovailoa would get “proper procedural evaluation” and “appropriate care” on Friday.
“The furthest thing from my mind is, ‘What is the timeline?’ We just need to evaluate and just worry about my teammate, like the rest of the guys are,” McDaniel said. “We’ll get more information tomorrow and take it day by day from here.”
Some players saw Tagovailoa in the locker room after the game and said they were encouraged. Tagovailoa spoke with some players and then went home after the game, McDaniel said.
“I have a lot of love for Tua, built a great relationship with him,” said quarterback Skylar Thompson, who replaced Tagovailoa after the injury. “You care about the person more than the player and everybody in the organization would say the same thing. Just really praying for Tua and hopefully everything will come out all right.”
Tagovailoa signed a four-year, $212 million extension before this season — a deal that makes him one of the highest-paid players in the NFL — and was the NFL’s leading passer in Week 1 this season. Tagovailoa left with the Dolphins trailing 31-10, and that was the final score.
“If you know Tua outside of football, you can’t help but feel for him,” Bills quarterback Josh Allen said on Amazon following the game. “He’s a great football player but he’s an even greater human being. He’s one of the best humans on the planet. I’ve got a lot of love for him and I’m just praying for him and his family, hoping everything’s OK. But it’s tough, man. This game of football that we play, it’s got its highs and it’s got its lows — and this is one of the lows.”
Tagovailoa’s college years and first three NFL seasons were marred by injury, though he positioned himself for a big pay bump with an injury-free and productive 2023 as he led the Dolphins into the playoffs. He threw for 29 touchdowns and a league-best 4,624 yards last year.
When, or if, he can come back this season is anyone’s guess. Tagovailoa said in April 2023 that the concussions he had in the 2022 season left him contemplating his playing future. “I think I considered it for a time,” he said then, when asked if he considered stepping away from the game to protect himself.
McDaniel said it’s not his place to say if Tagovailoa should return to football. “He’ll be evaluated and we’ll have conversations and progress as appropriate,” McDaniel said.
Tagovailoa was hurt Thursday on a fourth-down keeper with about 4:30 left in the third. He went straight ahead into Hamlin and did not slide, leading with his right shoulder instead.
Hamlin was the player who suffered a cardiac arrest after making a tackle during a Monday night game in January 2023 at Cincinnati, causing the NFL to suspend a pivotal game that quickly lost significance in the aftermath of a scary scene that unfolded in front of a national television audience.
Tagovailoa wound up on his back, both his hands in the air and Bills players immediately pointed at him as if to suggest there was an injury. Dolphins center Aaron Brewer quickly did the same, waving to the sideline.
Tagovailoa appeared to be making a fist with his right hand as he lay on the ground. It was movement consistent with something that is referred to as the “fencing response,” which can be common after a traumatic brain injury.
Tagovailoa eventually got to his feet. McDaniel grabbed the side of his quarterback’s head and gave him a kiss on the cheek as Tagovailoa departed. Thompson came into the game to take Tagovailoa’s spot.
“I love Tua on and off the football field,” Bills edge Von Miller said. “I’m a huge fan of him. I can empathize and sympathize with him because I’ve been there. I wish him the best.”
Tagovailoa’s history with concussions — and how he has since worked to avoid them — is a huge part of the story of his career, and now comes to the forefront once again.
He had at least two concussions during the 2022 season. He was hurt in a Week 3 game against Buffalo and cleared concussion protocol, though he appeared disoriented on that play but returned to the game.
The NFL later changed its concussion protocol to mandate that if a player shows possible concussion symptoms — including a lack of balance or stability — he must sit out the rest of the game.
Less than a week later, in a Thursday night game at Cincinnati, Tagovailoa was concussed on a scary hit that briefly knocked him unconscious and led to him being taken off the field on a stretcher.
His second known concussion of that season came in a December game against Green Bay, and he didn’t play for the rest of the 2022 season. After that, Tagovailoa began studying ways where he may be able to fall more safely and protect himself against further injury — including studying jiu-jitsu.
“I’m not worried about anything that’s out of my hands,” McDaniel said. “I’m just worried about the human being.”
NEW YORK (AP) — When her husband turns on the television to hear news about the upcoming presidential election, that’s often a signal for Lori Johnson Malveaux to leave the room.
It can get to be too much. Often, she’ll go to a TV in another room to watch a movie on the Hallmark Channel or BET. She craves something comforting and entertaining. And in that, she has company.
While about half of Americans say they are following political news “extremely” or “very” closely, about 6 in 10 say they need to limit how much information they consume about the government and politics to avoid feeling overloaded or fatigued, according to a new survey from the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research and USAFacts.
Make no mistake: Malveaux plans to vote. She always does. “I just get to the point where I don’t want to hear the rhetoric,” she said.
The 54-year-old Democrat said she’s most bothered when she hears people on the news telling her that something she saw with her own eyes — like the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol — didn’t really happen.
“I feel like I’m being gaslit. That’s the way to put it,” she said.
Sometimes it feels like ‘a bombardment’
Caleb Pack, 23, a Republican from Ardmore, Oklahoma, who works in IT, tries to keep informed through the news feeds on his phone, which is stocked with a variety of sources, including CNN, Fox News, The Wall Street Journal and The Associated Press.
Yet sometimes, Pack says, it seems like a bombardment.
“It’s good to know what’s going on, but both sides are pulling a little bit extreme,” he said. “It just feels like it’s a conversation piece everywhere, and it’s hard to escape it.”
Media fatigue isn’t a new phenomenon. A Pew Research Center survey conducted in late 2019 found roughly two in three Americans felt worn out by the amount of news there is, about the same as in a poll taken in early 2018. During the 2016 presidential campaign, about 6 in 10 people felt overloaded by campaign news.
But it can be particularly acute with news related to politics. The AP-NORC/USAFacts poll found that half of Americans feel a need to limit their consumption of information related to crime or overseas conflicts, while only about 4 in 10 are limiting news about the economy and jobs.
It’s easy to understand, with television outlets like CNN, Fox News Channel and MSNBC full of political talk and a wide array of political news online, sometimes complicated by disinformation.
“There’s a glut of information,” said Richard Coffin, director of research and advocacy for USAFacts, “and people are having a hard time figuring out what is true or not.”
Women are more likely to feel they need to limit media
In the AP-NORC poll, about 6 in 10 men said they follow news about elections and politics at least “very” closely, compared to about half of women. For all types of news, not just politics, women are more likely than men to report the need to limit their media consumption, the survey found.
White adults are also more likely than Black or Hispanic adults to say they need to limit media consumption on politics, the poll found.
Kaleb Aravzo, 19, a Democrat, gets a baseline of news by listening to National Public Radio in the morning at home in Logan, Utah. Too much politics, particularly when he’s on social media sites like TikTok and Instagram, can trigger anxiety and depression.
“If it pops up on my page when I’m on social media,” he said, “I’ll just scroll past it.”
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Sanders reported from Washington. David Bauder writes about media for the AP. Follow him at http://x.com/dbauder.
The AP poll of 1,019 adults was conducted July 29-August 8, 2024, using a sample drawn from NORC’s probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for all respondents is plus or minus 4.0 percentage points.
