OTTAWA — Political tribalism and bandwagon loyalty permeate Canadian public life across every region and the full spectrum of parties and interests, representing a measure of political division beyond even hyper-partisanship.
Partisanship in itself is neither inherently harmful nor incompatible with a healthy democracy. Political parties exist to organize competing ideas, interests, priorities, and visions for the country, and democratic government necessarily involves disagreement, debate, competition, and loyalty to particular political principles.
