When did “populism” become a dirty word?

“Populism” means paying attention to the popular will, to the concerns of ordinary people. At its best, democracy is a populist political system -- rule by the consent of the people.

This as opposed to tyranny -- rule by elites.

What the political left, and even some very confused conservatives, mean when they denounce “populism” these days is what they contemptuously think of as “right-wing populism”.

For example, the valid concerns of Canadians about border security and immigration and refugee policy.

The irony, as Preston Manning, who spearheaded the populist Reform party movement in Canadian politics rightly notes, is that Canada’s political elites have been instrumental in creating the populist movement they now condemn.

Manning explains why in an online essay posted by the Manning Centre in advance of its 2017 conference in Ottawa this weekend.

Among the causes of populism, Manning writes, are:

“Party platforms and government policies that promise prosperity but end up killing jobs, incomes, hopes and dreams.

“In Ontario, these include the fiscal and climate change policies of the Wynne government.

“In Alberta, it is the incompetence and ideological fixations of an inexperienced NDP government that are driving away essential job-creating, income-producing investment.

“Vacuous speeches and statements by the Prime Minister and other opinion leaders lauding ‘shared values’ while completely ignoring the greater problem of how to deal domestically and internationally with those who do not share our values.

“In Canada ... men and women are supposed to be treated equally in law and in practice. So how do we deal with would-be immigrants who do not share this value or others enshrined in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms? Avoiding the question is not the answer.

“The unequivocal support of the Canadian government and many of its media supporters for diversity, multiculturalism and increased immigration, while contemptuously dismissing the concerns of those who genuinely feel that Canada’s national identity and unity are being jeopardized thereby.”

Indeed, as the great Conservative thinker William F. Buckley Jr. observed: “Liberals claim to want to give a hearing to other views, but then are shocked and offended to discover that there are other views.”

Which describes Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the Liberals to a tee.