Yeah, I know... More politics.
James Bow is a former fellow co-worker (although I doubt he\'d remember me), fellow Doctor Who fan, and fellow K-Wer, but I\'d long avoided reading his blog because he tends to get into politics more than I think is healthy for my daily reading. Nowadays, though, that doesn\'t seem to be as much of a problem.
My political leanings differ slightly, but I have to say that lately I\'m agreeing with him on this stuff more often than not. In an \"I wish I\'d said that\" sort of way. To whit...
The reason I firmly believe Paul Martin must be defeated is because he is visionless and sees power as an end to itself. Paul Martin and his supporters spent so long working through the Liberal back rooms, making his drive to the top seem like an unstoppable juggernaut, that they never built a credible vision of where to take the country once Martin got to the top. We know this. Paul Martin’s last two years as prime minister has been a dithering muddle. And while I don’t share the vision that Harper has for this country, putting him in charge of a minority parliament is the only likely scenario that results in some much needed renewal to the political forces of this land.
However, the fact remains that Harper has a vision for the country that he knows his fellow citizens don’t share, and he is either running in order to give Canadians the change they want, or the change he can slip in while they aren’t looking. That’s different from having no vision whatsoever, but to the average voter, this still means Harper shares Martin’s reputation of saying whatever it takes to get himself elected, regardless of his beliefs (Harper) or lack of any beliefs (Martin). Putting yourself on a par with Martin as a cynical politician is no blessing. This may be less fair to Harper than it is to Martin, but this is the problem with this country in a nutshell.
Who do we choose? A visionless prime minister leading a tired party with elements of corruption, or a new party who may be holding back a hard-right agenda, featuring a leader with no firm belief in the semi-moderate positions he’s bringing forward. It’s no mystery why the turnout in the last election was a near record low 60%, and why both parties together are opposed by as many as 40% of Canadians.
Now, personally, I wouldn\'t go so far as to \"believe Paul Martin must be defeated.\" I\'m getting there, but I\'m not there yet. I\'d kinda like to see the Conservatives once again get humiliated in an election that, by rights, they have absolutely no business losing, so maybe they\'ll take a look at themselves and come back with a party that I don\'t find utterly repugnant the next time around, hopefully with a new leader and revised ideology. (Not that I think I\'m being overly egotistical about it. I think I\'m pretty capable of being sympathetic to a moderate conservative viewpoint, even if I don\'t necessarily share it). Right now, however, I\'m finding myself not being particularly invested either way.
Stephen Harper\'s said he\'ll stay away from the Notwithstanding Clause to quash civil rights-related court rulings this time around and, while I\'m not sure I entirely believe his dedication to the principle, that means he\'s not quite the demon that must be stopped at all costs like he was the last time.
What I\'d like to see is more representation for the other parties. As much as I like to see the Conservatives crushed and humiliated, I don\'t like that the Liberals can win elections by default, rather than by offering some compelling vision (Personally, I\'m pretty sure they have one somewhere, but I\'m guessing they don\'t feel it\'s worthwhile telling anyone).
You\'re not throwing your vote away by casting it for a third (or fourth or fifth or sixth) party. If nothing else, those little parties you don\'t think would win (like, as a tiny example, Green) get government money based on the number of votes they get, so, if nothing else, your vote helps them mount a better campaign next time. The only way you\'re throwing your vote away is by throwing your vote away. If you like the NDP, vote for the NDP. We\'re pretty much guaranteed another minority government, and the more seats the NDP can get, the more they can do. And, if you\'re an NDP fan, it\'s not like you\'re particularly well-served by an informal Liberal-Conservative coalition such as the one we had until the Conservatives smelt blood and broke ranks.
The other day, James posted an interesting speculation on what a loose Conservative-NDP coalition might look like. I\'m a bit too cynical to believe this will actually happen, but I\'ll admit it\'s a neat idea.
If we\'re getting right down to it, what I\'d really like to see is a Canada in which the MPs were people who represented their constituents to parliament, rather than people who represent their party to their constituents. Am I living in fairy dream land there? Yeah, probably.