What we need? I would argue we need self leadership. Being masters of our own capacities and potentialities. There is far too much waste. But that deviates a little from the scope of the discussion. People want different things from politicians. Some people want the politicians to play the role of Godfathers. Others want them to establish institutions. Others want them to beef up the institutions, while others want them to safeguard the current quality of the system. Personally, I want our Politicians to inspire us to and evoke radical innovation which takes us to the next step in our societal evolution. It only makes sense, as we already have solid institutions and a stable society. What we need i would argue is to innovate with the challenges of today AND tomorrow. Particularly, a more globalized but still very fragmented world, climate change, etc.
I very strongly believe that Canada is in a pristine position to play a pivotal role in these challenges.
As for the electioneering of the word leadership. Its plainly a populist attempt and evoking peoples basic instinct of red-meat-eating protection. I have seen some subtle semblances of real leadership in the campaign, but not enough to inspire a critical mass.