Whenever I bemoan another piece of fake news on my social media feed, I find myself questioning how is it people fall for this stuff.
The dearth of critical thought in our society is alarming. There is a serious problem with people choosing to immerse themselves only in information confirming their perspective. But we all need to be willing to interrogate people and information we like and dislike on a daily basis.
Take for instance the UCP's report on rural crime, released July 4. Even as an unabashed leftist, I think there are things to like in it. The report is solidly written and its recommendations on issues such as repeat offenders, crime statistic reporting and additional court facilities are reasonable.
But its lack of comprehensive statistical analysis and its emphasis on cherrypicked quotes without context stands to mislead people, which is something I cannot stand for.
Stopping this kind of thing takes a bipartisan willingness to interrogate one's own party. We must be willing to criticize parties we tie ourselves to - something I am happy to do against our federal and provincial governments. In that vein, I was glad to attend a UCP campaign event this week and see members hold MLA Glenn van Dijken to account, asking him to ensure his party does not stop working for the people, as the previous Progressive Conservative government did.
We all need to be active and bipartisan in stopping the spread of fake news and misleading information by critically engaging with the media we consume. We should strive to convince people with honest arguments, not by omitting or mishandling truth.
