Let’s get this out of the way: I don’t support any of the parties. They all bought attack ads, they all framed a single issue for their entire platform, and none of them proved to me to have any sense at all. I maintain that Canadians shouldn’t have to vote if they’re not satisfied with any of the candidates. Just so we’re clear: I don’t think any party leader is more deserving than any other. They are all poor leaders at best.
That being said, let’s move on…
I’m against the coalition. There isn’t any evidence to suggest that it is a good idea — a coalition government hasn’t been necessary since the Great Coalition of 1864 that led to the confederation of Canada. The issues faced by parliament today are almost pedestrian in contrast and are being misrepresented to the public. Anyone who’s watched the video footage coming out of parliament in the last few years knows that much of the “discussion” is heated emotional response that resembles a schoolyard disagreement rather than an assemblage of mature wise leaders. The worst part of this charade is the media coverage framing the issues with even more emotional vernacular. Now Magazine’s Dec. 4-10 2008 issue refers to the current economic problems as a, “global economic meltdown,” and criticises Harper’s decision to cut-off a certain type of political party funding as, “the latest in a long list of vulgar power plays.” This coalition is not going to solve our problems as a country. It is only going to make things worse by drawing lines and begging for in-fighting amongst Canadians — something we have been able to blissfully avoid unlike our “counterparts” in the South up until now. The coalition is bad.
The Conservatives need to leave their agenda behind. The last election was completely unnecessary and the results showed: we had the lowest voter turn-out in history. There may be many more complicated and scientific reasons for such voter apathy, but it’s my opinion that voters didn’t vote because they didn’t want to. Canadians were more or less satisfied with the way things were going before the election. Suddenly we’re forced to watch pathetic smear campaigns and listen to these blow-hards tell us what we want all because Harper couldn’t bend the parliament to his agenda. If he wants to win back the confidence of parliament and truly improve his public favour, then he should find ways to compromise between his ideals and those of the opposition.
The rest of the coalition parties need to smarten up. They are just as guilty as the Conservative party for using smear campaigns. What’s worse is that their supporters are now waving the flag of majority which is a complete falsehood. The last election was so fragmented amongst the parties that no clear majority was won by anybody. Teaming up on a single opponent is not a fair way to win a fight and it doesn’t give you an elected majority — such leadership is a scam and will no doubt make permanent the lines that are being drawn in the sand as we speak.
The fact of the matter is that Canadians would benefit from a united country. That means the politicians need to recognize the value of a more dialectic debate and learn to compromise. The media needs to tone done the acidic vitriol on either side and promote logical and toughtful discourse. Among other problems, there are economic issues we need to deal with — it’s not a global catastrophe and it doesn’t warrant knee-jerk reactions (and in my opinion, less, not more government spending). Even at an all-time low, the voters voted for a minority Conservative government. Canada can only move forward by dealing with practical issues, not the in-fighting of politicians. It’s the only way Canada can come out on top once the economy recovers.