OPINION: Leading by example

We were Googling around the kitchen table last week when I learned about some letters written to the prime minister almost two years ago.

I decided to ask a few questions.

It seems that a group of Ottawa area students sent them to Mr. Harper expressing concerns about some things they learned in school.
The letters were written by seven Grade 5 class members shortly after Justin Trudeau won the Liberal leadership and was being personally attacked by ­Con­ser­va­tives.

Their teacher was showing them how government works and they used their electronic devices to Google and tweet for further information.

It didn’t take them long to discover the hard-hitting, mean-spirited attack ads which they recognized immediately as cyber-bullying.
This revelation came in the wake of several high-profile cases in recent years where teens have been victimized and harassed online, some to the point of suicide.

In addition, the Ottawa students had just finished studying about the harmful effects of bullying when they witnessed the Conservative cyber attacks firsthand.

Considering what they had been taught by their teachers and their parents the response was thoughtful and appropriate – they condemned the attack on M. Trudeau.

Among other things, they observed that Justin was probably very sad about it.

Incidentally, Justin’s mom Margaret also called out Mr. Harper for “bullying Justin.”

The students were particularly dismayed to see Trudeau being victimized while doing charity work, which seemed especially dastardly to them.

One very astute Ottawa student offered the PM a bit of advice, “You know, there are better strategies, Mr. Prime Minister.”

These students are aware of the contradiction between what they are being told in school and the behaviour they see from the prime minister.

It is encouraging to hear such informed insights from these young Canadians but even though the PM is being offered good advice, he is unlikely to change his ways.

He won his majority by being rude and crude and it looks like we can expect a repeat performance heading into the next election.

But not only has the PM disappointed a generation of young Canadians, polling results have revealed that their parents and grandparents aren’t impressed either.

In one survey 64 per cent of respondents said the attack ads left them with a negative impression of Harper and his Conservatives.

Only 14 per cent got a negative impression of the Liberal leader, the intended target, and 20 per cent said the attack ads actually gave them a positive impression of Justin Trudeau.

Could it be that we have finally had enough of what columnist Andrew Coyne describes as the “Nasty Party” and their overbearing, underhanded governing style.

The Conservatives may be forced to stop trash-talking their opponents to deal openly and honestly with some very troubling issues facing our country.

That group of Ottawa kids just didn’t feel right about the attack ads and they would like Prime Minister Harper to stop being mean to Justin Trudeau.

They are probably still observing the PM’s behaviour but it has been almost two years now and as far as I know he still hasn’t replied to their letters.

I guess that tells them all they need to know about that.

These young Canadians won’t be voting this fall but when the next election rolls around some of them will be old enough to vote for the first time.

Mr. Harper won’t be around by then but his Conservatives could be facing an entire cohort of disenchanted voters.

I’m not sure that’s what the prime minister intended with his nasty attacks but Canadians of all generations are getting very sad and very tired of his example.