I appreciate where both @KenBoessenkool and @trevortombe are coming from and partly agree. Yes there is bad polarization, which I think it is a serious problem - but I define it somewhat differently than Ken.
1/x #cdnpoli https://twitter.com/kenboessenkool/status/1318201475680464896

Polarization is not just a healthy exchange of ideas and opinion.
@KenBoessenkool is right; that sort is healthy. In fact, we need more of that substantive back-and forth.

2/x #cdnpoli

I see at least three harmful kinds of polarization:
• obsessively degrading personalities (CPC re Trudeau, LPC re Harper, NDP re Kenney, etc)
• partisan “wedging” eg oversimplifying issues such as GHG emissions or Covid
• related: dismissing value of consensus
3/x #cdnpoli

Then there are the hitchhikers on the Polarization Express: armies of partisans and third-parties pursuing a division agenda; domestic and international botfarm operators; nutters, vigilantes, homemade militia; digital algorithms geared to controversy->clicks->cash.
4/x #cdnpoli

This isn't just about the fact that we have turned democracy and public discourse into crummy workspaces (although that matters in terms of attracting idealists into public life, people hoping to contribute to a better society but not spend all day shovelling shit).
5/x #cdnpoli

Poisoning the consensus well also provokes policy and economic instability. Chronically-unresolved issues. Jobs and billions of dollars wasted in politicized retroactive cancellation post-agreement: transit, defence procurements, pipelines, gas plants, wind farms.
6/x #cdnpoli

Canadians are not shy about healthy argument. As @KenBoessenkool said, that's a good thing.
But also good throughout our history has been our pragmatic ability to resolve argument thru give and take, hearing the other side, finding middle ground, reach agreement.
7/x #cdnpoli

We are not so far apart as polarized rhetoric suggests. Answers and solutions exist for most policy questions. We get to them sooner, design them better, and make them more enduring when we lower the temperature and recognize democracy works best with goodwill.
8/8 #cdnpoli