Canadian Politics

Guess what, guess what...ok I'll just tell you. We have a new Prime Minister. He's a little creepy looking, a little controversial, but boy, is he ever...there.

Yesterday I had the most ridiculous time deciding who to vote for. I changed my mind a dozen times. And just when I thought I would vote one way something would happen or I would find something to swing my vote the other way.

You see, it's not a matter of political beliefs anymore. If it were, I would probably vote Liberal, almost no doubt. But the Liberals have been in power for the past 10 years, and although they are relatively good for the economy and working off our national debt (which we never had until the Liberals got into power) they seem to have a problem with money going missing. They also have a problem with not punishing those responsible for it going missing. They also have a problem with broken promises and corruption. Gun control is non-existant and more and more people and being shot to death in Toronto. The Liberals seem to be all talk and no action. So yesterday, Election Day, apparently Canada had had enough. They voted in a Conservative leader to make a Conservative minority government. Paul Martin later announced that he would be resigning as the head of the Liberal party. What a poor little dejected puppy dog.

On the flip side, I'm not a huge fan of the Conservatives either. I don't believe all the hype about "they are going to make abortion and same sex marriages illegal." They know they couldn't do that because there would be a national uproar. But being by definition "conservative" it's easy to paint them as old fashioned Christians with an almost biblical agenda. They wouldn't survive one term if this was the case. However, the issues I believe to be fundamental to any political party seem to be on the backburner for the conservatives; healthcare and education. And although the healthcare system has rather crumbled under the Liberal government (wait times are atrocious), healthcare has never been a priority of the conservatives, at least to my knowledge. There are also rumours of privatization (which I don't think would be all that bad for reasons I won't get into). Regardless...I didn't want to vote conservative either.

What's left? The good ol' NDP. In the leader debates all I heard Jack Layton say was "I'm a tool, I'm a tool, I'm a tool tool tool." (Thank you Scrubs). The NDP put much emphasis on healthcare and education, which is great. However they are extreme. There would be no money to do what they want to do. The country would go bankrupt, just like our province did when the NDP got into power years ago. Plus, they want to legalize marijuana. And although I know there are some good reasons for doing this, I don't agree with it at all.

So by process of elimination...all the parties are eliminated. What's this leave? A protest vote. I called elections Canada to see if there was a legal official way of doing a protest ballot. There is in the States, there isn't here. It would just be counted as a spoiled ballot. That was no good. I had to find another way to make up my mind. Here's some other factors I considered:

Political ads: A weak medium. The politcal ads themselves were weak. In this department, I believe the Conservatives won. Although all the parties took to the traditional mud slinging, the conservatives at least listed their sources. The Liberal's ads were based on rumour and speculation. "Stephen Harper said this. Trust us. He really really did." NDP was about the same.

Candidates in my area: Dean Allison, Conservative, or Heather Carter, Liberal. Dean Allison would be re-elected, Heather Carter was new to the politcal world. Both were good. It was a tie.

Political Platform/Beliefs: Liberal. Would they actually act on their platform? No.

It seemed it was a draw there too...so it came down to this. Voting for Paul Martin is another way of saying "it's ok what you did to screw around the country...we still want you in power." I just couldn't do that.

So I'll let you piece together who I voted for. It was very stressful. I vote as if my vote will make or break the election, I take it very seriously. And to all those who didn't vote, well...you don't deserve democracy if you aren't going to participate in it.

I have one wish for this country. A political party that isn't corrupt, doesn't "lose" money, is honest and puts money where it is most needed. All I could think about through the whole election was how immature all the politcal parties were. Instead of proclaiming their ideas for this country, they just harp on the competitor's platform. They personally attack their opponents. Have we not grown to a point where we can forego these cheap political tricks? Can we not shake hands with the other leaders and say "may the best man/woman win"? Can we not work together for the betterment of the country instead of trying to push our own parties' political agenda?? None of these parties have Canada's best interests in mind, they have their own. And it sucks.

At least one positive thing will come out of this election: no more annoying ads on the radio or tv. Now we sit and wait (not unlike Chuck Norris) until they screw up so we can vote the Liberals back in in the next election. And so this pattern shall continue until we grow up and realize...well...that it's stupid. If we ever do.

Oh Canada.