Advertisement

Should we care about the net worth of our politicians?

There's a perplexing story line emanating from the Liberal leadership race.

Apparently, according to 'the media', we all want to know how much each candidate is worth.

The Canadian Press — in response to Justin Trudeau's recent disclosure about the value of his inheritance — published a story, Monday, with some of that information. If it matters to you, Joyce Murray has a net worth of about $5 million, Marc Garneau has assets of just over a $1 million, George Takach is a millionaire but won't say how many millions and Martha Hall Findlay is 'comfortable' but won't say how comfortable.

[ Related: Trudeau not the only millionaire in the Liberal leadership race ]

But should we really care about the respective 'net worths' of our politicians? Does being 'rich' somehow make you a lesser politician?

In 2004, former prime minister Paul Martin was worth $225 million. Did that make him a bad prime minister? Pierre Elliot Trudeau, John Turner, Brian Mulroney and Stephen Harper were no slouches either when it came to their finances.

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is worth $18.1 billion and has been re-elected three times.

Pollster David Coletto says voters don't really care whether a politician is rich or not. He says we're more concerned about whether they can connect with voters.

"Look at the last U.S. Election," the Abacus Data CEO told Yahoo! Canada News.

"Both Mitt Romney and Barack Obama were "rich" by most measures but Obama seemed more in touch with people's economic challenges than Romney. Romney had a serious empathy problem."

[ Related: Liberal leadership candidate Justin Trudeau challenges Justin Trudeau to a one-on-one debate ]

Coletto does suggest that the Harper Conservatives will question Trudeau's empathy for the middle class heading into the 2015 election.

"Stephen Harper has positioned himself as a simple, middle of the road, Tim Horton's drinking kind of guy. That image appeals to voters in Western Canada, in rural Canada, but also in suburban Canada. So the Tories will likely try to contrast Trudeau with that image and Trudeau's wealth will only be part of that contrast," he said.

"At the end of the day, voters want a leader who is competent, trustworthy, and shares their values.

"You can be wealthy as a candidate and still connect with voters on those attributes."

(Photo courtesy of Canadian Press)

Are you a politics junkie?
Follow @politicalpoints on Twitter!