I remember the shock I felt when I first walked into the House of Commons in 2021. After six years of Prime Minister Trudeau, the level of division across the country was the worst I had ever seen. But what was truly astonishing was watching the benches opposite us: not a single Liberal MP was willing to take accountability or even offer a straight answer.

It felt like a joke. They would answer almost every question with the same, hollow reassurance: “Everything is great. We are doing a great job. Canada has never been stronger.” I honestly felt like I was in the Twilight Zone. It was deeply frustrating then, and since that time, things have only gotten worse. The question, simply, is: Why?

The Government as the Permissive Parent

While some dislike the comparison, a government’s most basic rule should be similar to that of a good parent. A good parent’s job is to set you up for success, to create an environment where you can discover your skills, flourish, and become the best version of yourself. A good parent coaches, guides, and sets the tone; they are not there for you to be dependent on them.

Now, let’s look at what happens when a government acts like a permissive parent.

Permissive parenting means the parent has no consistent rules, no boundaries, and lets the child do whatever they want. The psychological consequences of this, backed by decades of research, paint a frightening picture:

• Poor Self-Regulation and Low Frustration Tolerance: A lack of consistent rules means the governed never learns self-control, accountability, or how to manage impulses when they don’t immediately get their way.
• Emotional Insecurity and Learned Helplessness: Constant inconsistency makes the world unpredictable and unreliable. When outcomes are random, people stop trusting the system and fall into apathy or a permanent state of victimhood.
• Entitlement and Defiance: The permissive dynamic teaches that wants always take precedence over needs or limits. When rules are negotiable, people learn to persist, argue, or manipulate until the authority gives in.

As you can see, these are not the qualities of a healthy society. Yet, they start to explain much of the behaviour we are seeing in our country: a pervasive lack of accountability, a culture where everyone is a victim, and a general loss of direction because there is no true leadership.

Caught in the Act: Governing by Contradiction

What brings this point home is the Liberal government’s repeated pattern of changing their minds, or, to be more blunt, telling different voter demographics exactly what they want to hear, hoping to get you to vote, and hoping they will never be caught.

This approach has once again come back to bite them with Bill C-9 (An Act to amend the Criminal Code and the National Defence Act). The government implemented this legislation, and it quickly became apparent that it was threatening the expression of religious freedom for faith groups across Canada. Religious communities of all backgrounds were rightly outraged and publicly called out the Liberals for this overreaching bill that infringes on fundamental freedoms.

They tried to push something through, but when the right people found out and made a public outcry, the government was pushed into a corner. As I write this, the Minister of Justice, Sean Fraser, has publicly signalled a willingness to back down from the contentious parts of the bill.

This is the very essence of permissive, inconsistent governance. They will test boundaries and break promises until they are forced to stop. We saw this pattern previously with their controversial gun buyback program and their premature expansion of MAID (Medical Assistance in Dying) to people with mental illness.

And let’s not forget their “commitment” to pipelines. The Liberal government signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Alberta to build pipelines, only to turn around and vote against it in Parliament. They say one thing to win public support, but use their power to push a private agenda. They say one thing and do another. Bad leadership creates division and instability.

The Mandate for Integrity

You cannot have leadership with no integrity and not expect extreme societal consequences. This really is the crux of the societal decay we are witnessing.

Canada desperately needs a return to the proven, effective model for stable, successful organizations and families: Authoritative Parenting and Transformational Leadership.

These styles are built on:

• Clear Boundaries and Expectations
• Consistent Consequences
• Accountability and Transparency
• Respect between the leader and the led

We’ve lost integrity. We’ve lost trust. It’s time to demand the accountable, principled, and consistent leadership that Canadians deserve. It’s time for leadership that means what it says, and does what it says, so we can finally step out of this political Twilight Zone of inconsistency and back into reality.

Michelle Ferreri is a political commentator, strategic communications and media consultant, and the former Member of Parliament for Peterborough—Kawartha