Murphy’s Logic: Canada and the U.S. have a similar leadership problem

Canada and the United States share much in common, but the way we choose our national leaders is vastly different.

In our parliamentary democracy, the king is nominally the head of state but the prime minister heads the government. The U.S. is a republic in which the president is both chief executive and head of state. Americans have a direct vote for their president. We vote for members of parliament, and the prime minister is usually the leader of the party which elects the most MP’s.

It’s interesting, then, that two systems, which are so fundamentally different, have produced precisely the same problem with the men who currently lead the countries. With elections looming, neither is particularly popular and yet they refuse to step aside, insisting they’ll run again.

Both are battling the ravages of time. In this country, with its recent history of changing governments after eight or nine years, Justin Trudeau has reached his best before date. With Joe Biden, it’s his age and doubts about his fitness for office.

Compounding the situation is the polling that reveals the main alternatives to Trudeau and Biden, Pierre Poilievre and Donald Trump, have high disapproval ratings as well. That might not prevent them from getting elected but surely, in a robust democracy, expressing a desire for change should not be reduced to forcing voters to choose the leader they dislike the least.

The real problem here is one of personalities, not politics. Our leaders are so bubble-wrapped that almost no one around them tells the hard truth. That enables selfish choices that put egos and self-interest ahead of the public interest. Decisions to stay in politics too long distort choices and opportunities for change.

And that’s one political reality Canadians and Americans now very much have in common.