TOBIN DALRYMPLE
Canwest News Service
It wasn't anger that drove Priscilla de Villiers to try to change the justice system after her 19-year-old daughter was murdered - it was a combined sense of urgency and duty.
De Villier's daughter was abducted and killed by a man on parole, with a history of violence, 17 years ago in
The South African-born mother of two knew she had to do something, immediately - so she founded a national advocacy group for victims of violent crime, which gained widespread political support and brought the debate over victims' rights to a national pitch.
"I knew it was too late for Nina. But I was not going to just leave the status quo," de Villiers said. "I couldn't stand by and watch and do nothing. It was my Rubicon. I wasn't going to back down."
De Villiers's case illustrates how, at a time of widespread frustrations, a leader can step up and sway the country into action.
Today, frustration over a variety of issues is bubbling across the nation, suggests a new poll conducted for Canwest News Service and Global Television. From neighbourhood crime to inaction over the environment, government policies on
And observers say a major grassroots movement could build out of this anger.
The poll, made public this week, is a sure sign of "combustibility," said John Wright, senior vice-president at the Toronto-based polling agency. A majority of Canadians are ticked: 20 per cent say they are "really angry" and are already doing something about issues of concern to them; another 35 per cent say they are angry but are "bottling up" their feelings.
It is these Canadians holding back emotions who are waiting for the right person to drive them into action, Wright said.
"All it takes is a spark and something can blow up," he said. "All it takes is someone in one part of the country to decide they are going to activate it or blow it up. The potential is there."
But academics are divided over who can shake up the country - or whether a major upheaval is even likely.
And while the poll shows a slew of contemporary frustrations, the issues are too diverse to pose any real potential for a revolt, Malloy says.
"People are discontented, but they are discontented in all different kinds of directions - and that makes it really hard for that (anger) to be harnessed, or lead, in any kind of way," he said.
Brent Berry, a sociology professor at the
"If everybody is focusing on individuality, it is hard to get them to commit to sustained collective action,"
Nevertheless, Peter Robinson, CEO of the David Suzuki Foundation, says there are plenty of examples of leadership across the nation - but they occur outside federal politics.
At a time when the world is faced with growing concerns over the environment, grassroots political movements are tackling them head on, Robinson says, pointing to recent moves by provinces to curb greenhouse gas, businesses adopting ecologically friendly practices and community-based bans on plastic bags.
Sacha Trudeau, son of the late prime minister Pierre Trudeau and documentary filmmaker, says it won't necessarily be a politician who takes a leading role in the country, but it must be someone who is courageous and able to make the tough calls that pay off in the long run.
"What Canada needs is more courageous people - people who are willing to make hard choices for the environment, or stand in opposition to whatever the (destructive) trends are in the world," Trudeau said.
"I think bravery is the rarest commodity these days in Canadian politics. And the whole scene will remain fairly uninteresting and deeply uninspiring until that changes."
The results of the poll are based on an online survey of 1022 Canadian adults, conducted May 22-26, and are considered accurate to within 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.