I’m not talking about COVID-19, or wearing face masks, or social distancing or living within my little cluster. That is the new normal. I’m talking about the lackadaisical attitude of the masses.

Our closest neighbour and so-called ally is governed by a madman. Why do I care? Because of the spill off on Canada as the madman seeks to further himself.

Clearly, Trump dislikes our prime minister, perhaps because his wife was flirtatious with our boy Justin as evidenced by her lustful gaze. (Okay, who could blame her. Any woman married to a narcissistic, misogynistic, despotic grifter would see Trudeau as a delicious distraction.)

Time and again, Trump has proven himself to be a pathological liar, an adulterer, racist, bigot, and a feckless leader. He has made the U.S. a global laughingstock. He has distanced the U.S. from its democratic allies and cozied up to authoritarian regimes.

The American intelligence agencies are often under presidential attack, he has beaten down NATO, the World Health Organization, deteriorated any affordable health care programs, given tax relief to the rich at the expense of the middle class and massively increased their debt, defrauded his charity, ignored a pandemic that has taken the lives of about 175,000 (and climbing) citizens, and the list goes on.

What the nightmare is, how can close to half of Americans still want him as a leader? It can’t be because of Democratic nominee Joe Biden’s age, because he and Trump are in the same ballpark. Nor can it be a wellness issue because Biden is far fitter than the obese Trump. Is it because the vice-presidential pick is a woman? Do they double down because she is a black woman? Are those Americans for Trump just uninformed or misinformed? I don’t know. Why did over 900 people drink the cyanide laced KoolAid in Jonestown?

As Canadians, we are considerably better, but could be heading down this same path. We elected Justin Trudeau as leader primarily because he was young and enthusiastic, and his predecessor was viewed as being boring and stoic. Nobody cared about his qualifications or ability.

Trudeau said he was going to spend like crazy during the first two years of his government and he did. He also said he was going to balance the budget by year four and he didn’t. He sometimes conducts himself as a dilettante on the world stage.

He seems not to understand what “conflict of interest” means and when being called out on his growing number of escapades, he apologies and all is good again in his world, although others in his sphere may be thrown under the bus. Yet, we re-elected him, albeit with a minority government, and as we bounce around on a yawing boat, the debt keeps growing. Yes, our young drama teacher turned prime minister is the star on our big screen.

Closer to home is our provincial government. Well, you can’t say that Premier Scott Moe is a charismatic leader — he’s more of a steady Eddy. It is hard to assess the status of his government since our slumping economy is tied to global issues and the commodities market. The increasing debt and deficit are certainly desperately affected by the pandemic. The boom is over, gas and oil prices have tanked, some mines are shutting down causing layoffs and unemployment, greater financial demand is being made for safe re-opening of schools, for mental health and opioid addiction, health and welfare in general as well as our cities demanding support.

Speaking of cities, Saskatoon’s budget seems to have been caught in the financial crisis. As our council scrambles to find dollars just to maintain services, it continues to plan for significant capital projects. There is $150 million, give or take, for a new library. Yes, I know it has its own budget and separate line on our tax bills, but council must approve that, which it did, and it is part of our tax bill.

And a new convention centre and arena, if I remember correctly, is hovering at $350-400 million, and the proposed BRT and active transportation plan is alive and well. And our beloved landfill that always falls short of the proposed mark, will continue to chew up dollars even though we pay a monthly recycling fee in order reduce landfill waste.

Folks, I am starting to forget the hundreds of millions in planned spending. Perhaps, it is just trauma that causes my brain to block it all out.

Clearly, our council has blocked out the fact that many in this city have lost their jobs and are struggling to survive during the economic downturn and cannot afford more taxation. Maybe if councillors had lost their salaries and perks, they would be more empathetic to constituents.

Where do we go from here?

Well, we have at least two elections coming up this fall, the provincial one on Oct. 26, and the civic one on Nov. 9. And, of course, there is also the possibility that a federal election could be called.

We all should pay close attention to the candidates and what they are saying (not that it means they will do what they say.) But we do need fresh faces and ideas in our governments, if for no other reason than to keep our elected officials from becoming complacent. Although the provincial slates are full, I do hope we will see more candidates running in the civic election. $68 thousand a year, plus perks is nothing to turn your nose up at for a part time job with the city.

I guess we will see if Canadians are more astute voters than Americans. Personally, I just want to live in a rational universe.

-Elaine Hnatyshyn