Social Trust, Pluralism, and Democracy (S03 E05)

Feature Guest: Sean Speer, Editor-at-Large of The Hub

Trust and social solidarity seem to be commodities in short supply these days. New polling suggests not just declining institutional trust among Canadians, but an undercurrent of anger that threatens our democratic life. That’s according to data published by The Hub, a new Canadian media outlet, which focuses on the work of think tanks and public policy. Sean Speer, Editor-at-Large of The Hub, says it’s shocking that 77 percent of Canadians say they’re angry about what’s going on in their country.

“I think that finding ought to cause a degree of introspection amongst our political leaders, amongst our business leaders, amongst our cultural leaders, our religious leaders,” Speer says. “What has happened to the sense of civic spirit of the sort of aspiration that really has been at the heart of the Canadian project? How have we gotten to a place where Canadians are increasingly marked by anger and not by aspiration and a good feeling about the trajectory our country is on?”

And while Speer makes a plea for true, deep, respectful pluralism across all divides in Canada, we also hear a plea for academic freedom in this episode. Pat Kambhampati, Associate Professor in McGill University’s Department of Chemistry, speaks with field reporter Peter Stockland about growing concerns about academic freedom among those involved in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

Where do you find The Hub? That’s easy: www.thehub.ca.

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