Leaders need to stop treating us like idiots

Do you ever feel you are being treated like a sap by our political and business leaders — an idiot who doesn’t deserve to know the truth or is too dumb to judge right from wrong?

If you do, then you are not alone because in Canada there’s increasingly a lack of accountability, honesty and transparency among politicians in Ottawa and at Queen’s Park and by top business executives.

It’s as if they actively hold us in contempt.

What does it mean when someone is seen as a sap?

According to the Cambridge English Dictionary, a sap is “a stupid person who can easily be tricked or persuaded to do something.”

Look at these current examples:

After weeks of downplaying the issue of Chinese interference in our elections, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau finally appoints a “special rapporteur” who won’t even have the powers of a commission of inquiry. Meanwhile, the RCMP is investigating leaks about foreign interference. So, our own spy masters and cops are taking the issue more seriously than Trudeau.

Second, Supreme Court Justice Russell Brown goes on leave, but the court says it can’t disclose the reason “to respect confidentiality.” The justice system often names ordinary people suspected of malfeasance, but it won’t do it with one of their own. It takes a Vancouver Sun reporter to reveal Brown was involved in a physical altercation at an Arizona resort.

Third, Loblaw CEO Galen Weston and other grocery bosses say they won’t show us the numbers, but believe them when they say their record profits aren’t coming from the skyrocketing prices. “You can trust what we say,” Weston recently told Canadians.

Fourth, Premier Doug Ford says there was nothing wrong with developers and lobbyists paying to attend a stag-and-doe pre-wedding party for his daughter. Some stand to benefit from Ford’s move to open up parts of the Greenbelt. Nothing to see here, folks. Keep moving!

Fifth, Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre wants us to believe he only supported “peaceful and law-abiding” trucker convoy protesters. Sure did look different to most who watched him marching proudly with protesters and bringing coffee and doughnuts to “peaceful and law-abiding” occupiers who were later arrested or fined.

Sixth, the Ontario and federal governments likely have promised tens of millions of dollars — and maybe more — in subsidies and tax breaks to lure Volkswagen to construct a huge EV battery plant in St. Thomas. Surprise, though, they won’t tell us how much it will cost us, claiming it’s confidential.

Seventh, Air Canada executives promote their airline as one of the best in the world. They should be ashamed of themselves because few people believe that anymore. Michael Rousseau, the airline president, should try flying steerage like most of us do, waiting hours for our luggage and having to deal with demoralized crew members, many of whom no longer care about good service. Airline bosses say “failures” of execution aren’t their fault.

This lack of honesty, accountability and transparency from our political and business leaders will continue as long as they refuse to trust us to assess and properly deal with information that affects our lives and our livelihoods.

So do the right thing and stop treating us like saps.