An Election Kind of Christmas and other Tomfoolery.

You have too much respect upon the world:
They lose it that do buy it with much care.

Didn't we just do this? Paul Martin's Liberal government was defeated in a non-confidence vote the other day up on Parliament Hill. So here we are off to the races, three days into the first winter election campaign in nearly twenty five years.

Recently I've been thinking about politics in Canada... I am a political science major, so it is only natural that my mind would tend to drift in this direction.

I have come to the conclusion that the Liberal sponsorship scandal was too complex for Canadian public. Now that's not to say the Canadian public is stupid, quite the contrary--they're just very busy. The Liberals would have taken a bigger hit in the polls if the scandal were more simple and straight forward... Politician A took kickbacks, Politician B blackmailed someone, Politician C had extramarital affairs, used tax dollars to cover it up etc. Something a little more baseline, less complex. The sponsorship scandal has so many levels, and even after the Gomery Inquiry the full truth still isn't known. It was a complex money laundering scheme, not some simple political SNAFU, it was major.



Had it been say, Jean Chretien punting small children for sport, or Paul Martin using ill-gotten money to deck himself out with bling, maybe then the Canadian public would have been up in arms. But with the sponsorship scandal, there's too much there... Did anyone you know actually read the Gomery Report? Probably not, and so the parties are left to spin the findings of the report.

As for the other political parties, the NDP keep chugging away. Jack Layton and Co. are proving what a determined bunch of people they are. They will be crushed.

The Bloc Quebecois meanwhile are doing what they usually do, standing up for Quebec rights, and pushing their separatist agenda. Good old Gilles Duceppe called for Quebec to get its own World Cup hockey and soccer teams, similar to Scotland and Wales having world cup teams, even though they are part of the United Kingdom. Interesting.

As for the Tories, they're off to a fairly decent start. Today Stephen Harper announced that if elected the Conservative Party would lower the GST from 7% to 6%, and 5% within 2 years. While the Liberals attempt to sling mud at their opponents, the Conservatives actually have a platform that does not involve constant name calling and character assassination. A "reporter" the other day asked Stephen Harper if he "loved Canada"... Firstly, what kind of hack reporter asks that kind of question, secondly why would any politician commit political suicide and say they didn't love Canada, and thirdly would Stephen Harper be running for Prime Minister of this great nation if he didn't love Canada?! This is going to be an interesting campaign.

I personally am hoping for a Conservative minority. It will prove to Canadians that the Tories are ready for power again, and limit any potentially socially conservative policies fringe elements of the party may try to bring up. I'm all for a fiscally conservative/socially moderate party - That's why I was a Progressive Conservative back in the day. The anti-gay marriage stuff isn't going to get them elected, if the Conservatives want to stand any chance in Ontario and other Canadian cities they need to drop that.

I am not a pundit, I know who I am most likely to support... Hell everybody does, I make no bones about where I stand politically. I am just going to watch the election play out and see what develops. For you intrepid reader, the ball is in your court.

For quality Conservative coverage check out Blogging Tories or Stephen Taylor's blog.
For Liberal coverage check out Progressive Bloggers.
And if you're looking for NDP coverage... Get off of my site you socialist bastard!

I kid... NDP.ca has all the info.

Enough election talk... Now for the saddest thing I saw all day. Kangaroo suicide.


Godspeed little buddy!

- Will   Thursday, December 01, 2005