Here鈥檚 a serious question 鈥� how much blame should political leaders take for the various problems we鈥檙e facing?

Because we have quite a lot of problems facing us. We鈥檝e got the big international ones (climate crisis, Russian invasion of Ukraine) the big national ones (housing, homelessness, doctors shortage, price of food) and the local annoyances (is every single road leading to my house made of potholes and patches?).

One thing that鈥檚 always bothered me, though, is when anyone, from an opposition politician to a random commenter on social media, lets loose with a spittle-flecked rant at the folks in charge 鈥� for something over which they have limited control.

I don鈥檛 get too worked up about it. This is a democratic society, and we pay our elected officials very well. If they didn鈥檛 want to be blamed for every little thing, they could have stayed out of the game.

But it鈥檚 still a problem. You can tell local leaders they should be electrifying municipal vehicle fleets faster, or doing more to permit charging stations, or to switch civic buildings from natural gas to heat pumps.

But you can鈥檛 blame them for global warming. You can tell they didn鈥檛 do that because of the 鈥済lobal鈥� part.

Inflation is one of the big clubs currently being wielded by opposition parties in this (and other) countries.

Did Justin Trudeau cause inflation?

Well, in part. He and the Liberal government did the exact same thing that pretty much every developed country did during the pandemic 鈥� they flung money at people who were suddenly unemployed and/or trapped at home so we wouldn鈥檛 all starve or be evicted.

And yes, all that spending, and the spending all the other countries did, and the supply chain breakdowns, and the war in Ukraine, and OPEC cutting oil production, and the ship that got stuck in the Suez Canal for several days 鈥� yes, all of that caused, or contributed to, inflation.

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The big question is, did the Liberal government fumble the response? How are they doing now? How are they helping Canadians who are getting body-slammed by higher food and housing costs?

It鈥檚 the same story here in B.C.

What caused the homelessness crisis? What caused the doctor鈥檚 shortage? Is it鈥� the NDP?

Well, yes.

They caused those things 鈥� and so did the previous B.C. Liberal government 鈥� by presiding over a fast-growing economy and a red-hot housing market that has made millionaires out of homeowners and property speculators, while grinding down the most vulnerable until they ended up on the streets.

Response is the key. I don鈥檛 tend to blame leaders for the big problems they face. For every problem they head off before it gets that big, two more show up.

It鈥檚 the response 鈥� its speed and effectiveness 鈥� where you see whether a government is worth keeping around, or kicking to the curb to see if someone else can do a better job.