Jared Wesley

🧵Why are seasonal childhood vaccination rates falling after the initial stages of the COVID-19 pandemic despite a mass increase of viral illness?

@mmaroto.bsky.social @amykaler.bsky.social and I add some new understanding to this in our new paper published in The Sociological Quarterly

I'm only an outsider, but gotta say...

A guy who refurbishes a billion dollar jet and builds a ballroom isn't planning on leaving.

'Alberta Forever Canada' petition sees potential hurdles according to Alberta political scientist Getting almost 300,000 signatures in the summer is going to be a tough task says political scientist

They issued a correction on that point. Should be updated now. (I told Dan I hoped that this wasn't an *attempt by the Forever Canada group* to play wedge politics with national unity. I'm agnostic as to whether that's the effect. )

They're looking for volunteers. bsky.app/profile/luka...

I've asked for a correction. Share away!

'Alberta Forever Canada' petition sees potential hurdles according to Alberta political scientist Getting almost 300,000 signatures in the summer is going to be a tough task says political scientist

My two cents for the Forever Canada folks on their high risk, high reward venture. ca.news.yahoo.com/alberta-fore...

Distributed decisionmaking is a key principle of pluralism.

The notion that we avoid consolidating power in the hands of one person has been at the core of our constitutional order for centuries.

To move us away from absolute monarchies.

Populists like Smith are openly ignoring those norms.

Alberta’s bike lane discussion might be coming to Edmonton As Alberta takes notes from Ontario’s battle over bike lanes, Edmonton and Calgary are poised to be the centre of a similar debate in the foreseeable future.

Prime minister. Judge. Chief Electoral Officer. Mayor. Your child's doctor. And now city planner.

There's no end to the jobs Danielle Smith wants to do.

www.ctvnews.ca/edmonton/art...

New on Building Left: @jaredwesley.ca dives into how individual Albertans make sense of their political identity, complicating the stereotypical conservative image of the province. Give it a listen 🎙️ podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/b...

It's a good reminder that the Chief Electoral Officer reports to the legislature, not to the government. The office is independent, neutral, bound by law, and is supposed to be free from political interference.

Grateful to see the Chief Electoral Officer resist pressure from the premier and justice minister.

globalnews.ca/news/1131020...

7/
Canada isn't immune to populism.

In fact, our high overall trust levels make the decline more alarming.

Our study shows that populism doesn't just change politics—it reshapes governance.

Time to pay attention.

Full article here: doi.org/10.1111/gove...
#cdnpoli #publicservice #populism #trust

6/
Ironically, populists need public servants to do their job.
But to win power, they discredit the very bureaucracy they later rely on.
This creates a vicious cycle:

🗣️ Bash the “deep state” →
😠 Lower public trust →
🛑 Sabotage policy capacity →
🤷 Poor performance →
🗣️ Bash harder.

5/
So what?

Because trust in public servants matters.

These folks write the policies, deliver the programs, and keep the lights on (literally).

Undermine their legitimacy, and the whole system starts to wobble.

4/
Even when people are happy with democracy...

Even when they feel they can influence government...

...if they hold populist views, they’re still less likely to trust public servants.

This effect is strongest at the federal level.

3/
Our study uses data from 1,000+ Canadians to test what drives trust in public servants.

We looked at:
– Populist attitudes
– Political efficacy
– Satisfaction with democracy

Turns out, populism is the strongest predictor of whether people trust bureaucrats.

2/
“Canada is broken.”
“Get rid of the gatekeepers.”
“Fire the Governor of the Bank of Canada.”

Populist rhetoric isn’t just campaign talk.
It’s chipping away at the very institutions that keep our democracy afloat—especially the public service.

🧵 1/
@brendanboyd.bsky.social and I have a new article in Governance
👇

Populist politicians love to bash bureaucrats.

But does this actually erode public trust in the public service in Canada?

Short answer: Yes.

Link: doi.org/10.1111/gove...

If the Minister of Justice is counseling the Chief Electoral Officer to disregard the law, it makes you wonder what kind of advice he's offering the premier and the rest of government.

Predictably, the move is sowing further distrust in the democratic system, including elections and courts.

Nice. Pretty sure that is Dylan McDermott, though.

After years of hard work, I am happy to announce that my book The Candidacy Calculation has been published by UTP. The book takes a nuanced view of traditional barriers to candidacy such as money & family as well as emerging ones such as online harassment & social media scandals. lnkd.in/gKDkMHqs

Tailspin. Time to change the flight crew. Yesterday.

I made that point literally in the first 30 seconds of the podcast and throughout. But don't let that get in the way of dismissing it.

Of course, none of that is going to matter in the heat of a referendum campaign.

Falice Chin: What if Alberta was already independent? What flipping the separatism debate on its head can teach us about navigating Alberta’s place in Confederation

The separation referendum will come down to emotion.

Many Albertans "feel like Alberta is there for everybody else when they’re falling upon hard times... When we fall on hard times, nobody’s there for us,” Wesley said.

“It’s unrequited love.”

Great discussion.

thehub.ca/2025/07/26/f...

YouTube video by The Hub Canada What would it take for an independent Alberta to join Canada today?

Curious about the motivations and implications surrounding Alberta separatism? Check out this conversation I had with Ryan Hastman and Gary Mar.

youtube.com/watch?v=ZibL...

official DHS account posting fourteen word long tweets with the H's randomly capitalized

groyper occupied government

Took a quick look at the agreement between Columbia and the Trump administration. Apart from the clear extortion in which Columbia hands the government $200M, here are just three of its more egregious provisions.

Don’t let the name “Social Media Lab” mislead you. Our work goes far beyond social platforms. We investigate Russian disinfo & AI-generated deepfakes, develop research tools, & monitor targeted ads on Meta. We also study Community Notes on X & run national surveys. socialmedialab.ca/about-the-so...

ANALYSIS | Are first ministers' meetings cool again? | CBC News When Mark Carney sits down with the premiers on Tuesday, it will be the third time in four months that he and the premiers have met face-to-face. That is, by recent standards, an unusual amount of tim...

New from me: Are first ministers' meetings cool again?

With links to the wise analysis of @alasdairroberts.bsky.social, @jaredwesley.ca, @jbroschek.bsky.social and Jenn Wallner.

www.cbc.ca/news/politic...