Who’s telling the truth? We’ll be listening to the leaders during Ontario’s 2022 election campaign


Last summer, when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called a snap election that sent federal leaders on the campaign trail to vie for votes, the Star set out to answer a question: How honest are our politicians?

As the Star’s fact checker for the 2021 federal campaign, I observed Canada’s major party leaders, each for a week at a time, during almost 1,000 minutes of public appearances. I noted every statement of fact the leaders made and then did whatever I could to verify them.

Most of the time, the politicians told the truth.

They did not often outright lie, fib or undermine facts — and certainly nowhere near the level of politicians such as former US president Donald Trump, who famously made 60 false claims in one two-hour speech alone.

In the course of a week of rigorous fact checking, the politicians only made a handful of false claims, and some of them were clear errors or misspeaks that the parties corrected immediately. The crowd was also fairly evenly matched.

But that’s not to say the leaders were always honest, all of the time. Each of them made several false claims, about everything from greenhouse gas emissions to irregular border crossings, to foreign investment in Canada’s real estate market. Whether deliberate or not, those statements skewed the public record and misled voters.

The politicians also stretched the truth sometimes, meaning they made claims which were broadly true, just not in the specific way they said them. These stretches, often sweeping statements rooted in ideology rather than facts, led voters astray as well.

While the results of that analysis were broadly comforting, that didn’t make the false statements I found — and corrected — any less important.

Now I’m taking the provincial method.

As the Ontario election campaign kicks off this week, it’s time to ask the honesty question again, but this time of our provincial leaders. How much does truth matter to politicians like Mike Schreiner, Steven Del Duca, Andrew Horwath and Doug Ford?

Many of the same challenges that were discussed in the national campaign will be featured again in this one: the post-pandemic economic recovery, climate change, and an increasingly inaccessible housing market. Ontario has one-third of the country’s electoral districts, after all.

But things have changed since last summer. Ontarians are grappling with what it means to “live with COVID-19” while continuing to protect our most vulnerable. Many are struggling to get by as soaring inflation and the rising cost of goods make life increasingly unaffordable.

At the same time, memories of the pandemic’s crushing toll on Ontario’s already-strained health and long-term care sectors are fresh. The government’s handling of the pandemic, which killed more than 12,800 Ontarians, will also be on the ballot.

There’s a lot at stake in this election, and it’s as important as ever that politicians get the facts right.

“Democracies work best when they are based on trust,” says Anna Esselment, a professor of political science at the University of Waterloo.

Beyond the necessity of facts for sound policy, if a politician is honest, it signals to voters that they are trustworthy, reliable, and respect both citizens and the office they are vying for, she says.

Esselment is optimistic. There will always be instances of politicians lying or stretching the truth — the average person lies twice a day, she says — but thankfully, serial liars like Trump are the exception, not the norm.

“The expectation is that there will be honest and truthful conversations and debates about what the best Ontario might look like,” she says.

Whatever happens, I’ll be watching closely.

Here’s how it’s going to work: beginning Wednesday, each week I’ll focus on one party leader, starting with the one with the fewest seats and working up. First up is Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner.

At the end of every week, you’ll get to see a roundup of every claim that leader made and how truthful I judged it to be.

Last time, I learned that the truth is rarely black and white. It’s often the layers of nuance, or the context behind statements that explain what’s really going on. Sometimes, it’s what the politician isn’t sayingthat shows how honest (or not) they really are.

So beyond just saying what’s true or false, I’ll try to give as much background as possible. I’ll also see how each leader stacks up against the rest, using the Star’s dishonesty density metric, which looks at the rate of false claims per speaking time.

Here’s how you can help. Our politicians will have a lot to say in the coming month, and I don’t want to miss anything. Email [email protected] or tweet me @lexharvs with tips on claims you think I should be looking into.

Here is the schedule of who I will be fact checking and when:

Mike Schreiner (Green): May 4-8 (Fact check live on May 11)

Steven Del Duca (Liberal): May 11-15 (Fact check live on May 18)

Andrea Horwath (NDP): May 18-22 (Fact check live on May 25)

Doug Ford (PC): May 25-29 (Fact check live on June 1)

JOIN THE CONVERSATION

Conversations are opinions of our readers and are subject to the Code of Conduct. The Star does not endorse these opinions.



Leave a Comment