All Politics Are Still Local: Why Trust Lives Closest to Home
Matthew Dubé
As the dust settles on the federal election campaign, all eyes will be on the direction the government will take after nearly a decade with Justin Trudeau in the Prime Minister’s office. While this focus is essential and justified, we cannot lose sight of the newly elected or reelected Members of Parliament. After all, everyone knows the cliché: all politics are local. For newly elected MPs, the bright lights, viral moments, and occasional glamour of Ottawa might cause them to lose sight of this. However, no matter how much politics and media consumption have changed in the 14 years since I was first elected, trust levels remain highest for those who prioritize proximity to their communities and avoid harsh partisanship. Through our annual CanTrust Index, Proof Strategies has research that provides the opportunity to reflect on potential reasons why.
While trust in local mayors has steadily declined over five years, they remain ahead of the Prime Minister and, to a lesser extent, provincial Premiers. In 2025, we found that Mayors had a nearly 10-point lead over the Prime Minister when asked: when you think of these people or groups of people, to what extent do you trust each to do what is right for Canada, Canadians and our society in general?
Given my own proximity to my constituents during my time in office, I believe that those relationships can drive the trust Canadians have in their elected officials. The Premiers score higher than the Prime Minister but lower than Mayors, suggesting that as the politician serves at a more local level of government, they have more trust. This can also be explained by the fact that many federal issues are distant from people’s everyday concerns. That can be remedied, however, by federal MPs focusing on constituency work and the issues that do impact their community.
The other obstacle MPs may encounter while attempting to build trust with their constituents is their political party. By nature, federal political parties are national vehicles for forming government. To that end, even in parties seen as more ideologically rigid, consensus is needed to adopt and defend positions. However, we find that more and more Canadians see political parties as divisive, 60 per cent in 2025, and this number has increased over the years. While there are gaps between the perceptions of self-identified members of each party, they are all within 10 points of each other, with the lowest being Liberal supporters (49 per cent) and the highest being Conservatives (59 per cent). The NDP and the Bloc are in between at 55 per cent and 58 per cent, respectively. This means that harsh partisanship or rhetoric that implies “us vs them” will erode trust with the public.
When I was first elected and came to Ottawa in 2011, a prominent former colleague told me that MPs would lose elections because they wasted time trying to be on the front page of a national newspaper to the detriment of local ones. While the media landscape has changed, the sentiment remains the same. Similarly, while the party is often the driving force behind a Member’s election, they can also be an albatross that prevents them from focusing on what matters to their re-election as they become lost in internal politics and loyalty tests.
It has been estimated that a strong local MP can earn anywhere from 10 per cent to 15 per cent of the vote on their own, regardless of their party’s popularity. In both campaigns where I ran for re-election in 2015 and 2019, I earned 10 per cent more than what my party scored in Québec. It seems that focusing on local profile and taking the advice from seasoned colleagues paid off.
For organizations looking to advocate for their needs with a new Parliament, including over 60 new MPs (likely many more), leaning into local angles tailored for specific MPs is a winning formula. It creates interest and opportunity and will help advance your business objectives. It is true for MPs but also for anyone lobbying them: all politics is local.