Christopher Flavelle thinks so:
If the last week is any indication, that polarization is only getting worse. On Sunday morning, Prime Minister Harper began the race by predicting “a very nasty kind of personal-attack campaign.” Two days later, his party briefly released an ad that showed a bird defecating on the leader of the Liberal Party. So much for Canadians being nice.
Update on Liberal Party “unrest” from today’s Globe and Mail.
He points to a possible budget deficit, shrinking foreign aid, and sagging support for the environment, and pins the blame-growing political polarization.
Frankly, I don’t see it: Canada retains a high level of social cohesion, a still functioning social welfare system, has thus far avoided anything remotely like the financial meltdown in the U.S., and from where I sit remains a fairly civil place. Americans are obsessed with partisan politics and the blue-red divide – most Canadians laugh at, or ignore, puffin-pooping.
But my reference point is that of an American and I’m still only a year into the honeymoon. Your thoughts?