Sarah: Hi Pauline, Nik
While it's been difficult to stay focused on national politics when much of the world is in such apparent crisis, enough worrisome Canadian news has surfaced to make me think that while we can consider ourselves lucky to live in this country, we have plenty to be concerned about here as well.
Certainly our commitment to fairness, equality and democracy are wavering. I'm thinking of the federal government shutting down elements of the freedom of information database, its hands-off approach to Omar Khadr, the overzealous use of Tasers and the threats to close the safe-injection site Insite in Vancouver. Am I being paranoid or should we be worried?
Nik: I find the coincidental timing of events like these can incite feelings of concern in the public around certain issues and then things turn more to a "normal" cycle (if there ever is such a thing).
Beyond what you've identified, Sarah, I think the bigger factor driving unease today is the concern about jobs and the economy. Research shows that Canadians are increasingly worried about the strength of our economy. When they see the price of gas jump, fluctuations in the stock market and talk of a potential recession, they get "grumpy," so to speak.
We might at this time be in a psychological as opposed to a real recession but it has a huge impact on the public mood.
Sarah Albertson lives in Vancouver where she works for an environmental group that promotes public transportation. She has always been interested in politics and, in 2002, founded a new civic party called the Dance Party Party, which was designed to get young voters involved in the electoral process. The DPP fielded two candidates in the Vancouver municipal election that year.
Pauline Couture is a journalist, author, communications consultant and public policy volunteer, careers that have taken her across Canada and around the world. Based in both Toronto and Montreal, she has worked in a range of knowledge industries from media and telecommunications to energy and financial services, with a special interest in culture.
Nik Nanos is one of Canada's most trusted pollsters and the president of Ottawa-based Nanos Research. He is the official pollster for CPAC, the Cable Public Affairs Channel, Quebecor's Sun and Osprey Media Groups and Policy Options magazine. Nanos is also a research associate professor in Canadian Studies at the State University of New York in Buffalo. 
