Read on Twitter
A short thread. My colleagues and I have done a lot of research on Canadians' attitudes and behaviours through the pandemic - more than 60,000 survey interviews thus far. We've analysed millions of tweets, etc. What strikes me is that most people are responding with common sense.
They listen to public health experts and they follow directives as best they can. But for the most part, they are just using their noggins. That's why behaviour changes sometimes proceed directives and sometimes follow, for example.
But the main take away is that they are thinking about how to be sensible and neighbourly. Even when they break rules, my sense is that they do it with some reasonable moral and practical justifications.
They are, in short, trying to be honest and trying to do their best. Which makes me think that no technical explanation will get them past the fact that Rod Phillips packed a sweater to go to St. Barts, so that when he did a zoom call, he could look like he was in Canada.
Patience is beginning to run thin, I think. The same common sense that underwrites Canadians' behaviours will animate their judgements of politicians. I wouldn't want to be on the wrong side of that. Leaders should be wary of explaining away things that are clearly wrong.
