In this episode, I sit down with Dr. Jamil Chaudhuri, a professor at the University of Calgary, to talk about the impact of polarized politics on relationships with young men and women, and how to counter it.
00:00:00.000Hi Jamil. Hey, how you doing? Good, you? Pretty good. So just on your presentation, you were talking about how young men were swinging sort of to the conservative end of things and young women were staying left. I've been working on a project for a long time. How do you think that will affect relationships with young men and women?
00:00:19.540Well, I don't think it has to be this polarized. And I think I'm hoping one of the things that we can do is to change that. So I don't want that to be baked into our political equation if I can help it. I believe that there are a lot of women who want to see positive changes for their sons, their brothers, their friends, their neighbors. And when we talk about wanting to solve the problems that are uniquely affecting young men, I don't see that as only appealing to young men. Right.
00:00:45.580But I do think you're right to point out that, you know, polarization and politics can affect relationships that people have. And you hear stories of people, right? Like, I mean, you read about them online or someone's, you know, match with somebody on an app and then, you know, politics winds up being the reason that they don't actually, you know, want to talk to each other. And I think that's a problem. So, I mean, probably the best thing we could do is just try to encourage people to talk to each other despite their political differences and not see that as like a tribal identity that we can't, you know, bridge between. Right.
00:01:14.580Yeah, absolutely. And do you see that sort of changing in the coming few years?
00:01:19.980Yeah. I mean, look, as you heard in the presentation, you know, I do represent the more optimistic camp, right, on these questions. So, like, my view is that if we convince people that we can make their lives better, they will be open to thinking about conservative ideas as a solution to their problems.
00:01:37.300And I wouldn't be in this job if I didn't think that we could accomplish that goal. And that's what I'm trying to do, right? I mean, it's one of the reasons why I'm here in Calgary right now and coming, you know, from Bowenville, right? It's like, I come here because I want to show people that we've got a way to approach this that I think could be good for all Canadians across the country.
00:01:54.400Mm-hmm. And going a little bit more on that, young men were sort of a silver bullet for the Conservatives last election, being predominantly Conservative supporters, coming out in huge numbers, and getting the Conservatives a number of seats that they haven't seen in like 10 years.
00:02:08.400Do you think that we'll transition to Ontario provincial politics with Doug Ford next election?
00:02:14.400Well, I think Doug Ford is appealing to a different segment of the country, or in the case of Ontario, the province, right? Because he is appealing to people who are okay with the status quo, and we appeal to people who want something new and different.
00:02:32.400Right. And I believe that more Canadians are going to want something new and different, and fewer Canadians are going to want the status quo. So I think the numbers are on our side. And I'm confident that over time, we get stronger, and he gets weaker.
00:02:43.400Mm-hmm. And a little bit more on Doug Ford. Recently, we saw Doug Ford get in line with the Federal Conservatives on the Stand Iron Guard provision.
00:02:52.400Mm-hmm. Only after someone he knew had been affected on crime. What are your thoughts on that?
00:02:57.400Well, the same thing happened with auto theft. You might remember that until someone tried to steal a car from his driveway,
00:03:01.400he wasn't very vocal about the increase in auto thefts in the Toronto area.
00:03:06.400So, yeah, I mean, I don't think politicians should wait for a problem to affect their personal lives before they take a position.
00:03:12.400And this is why, you know, being principled, believing in something, and standing up for what is right is important.
00:03:17.400Because you've got to fight for other people. It's not just when it affects you, right?
00:03:22.400I mean, you've got to take a stand when it's not about you and it's about the people who elect you and the people you serve.
00:03:28.400Mm-hmm. And recently, we saw Doug Ford pour out a bottle of Crown Royal at a press conference.
00:03:33.400And we're talking about fighting for other people. He seems to be fighting for those 180 people.
00:03:37.400But do you think that his alcohol ban had anything to do with the closure of that plant?
00:03:43.400Yeah, I mean, look, it's interesting when incumbent politicians take no responsibility for any problem.
00:03:49.400And in the case of Ontario, I mean, he's been in charge for seven years.
00:03:54.400I mean, could he have made anything better in that time?
00:03:59.400Because he had majority governments to present all kind of policies that could have been made for a better business environment in Ontario.
00:04:05.400He's not doing that. So it's convenient to sort of get everyone to focus on the Crown Royal bottle being poured on the ground.
00:04:12.400But I think he still needs to answer some questions about what is he doing to make for a growing economy in Ontario.
00:04:18.400And he can only, you know, distract people for so long before he actually has to answer that question.
00:04:23.400Perfect. Thank you so much for your time. Yeah, appreciate it.
00:04:26.400Hope you enjoyed the rest of the time. Yeah.