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rfmcdonaldSunday, an anonymous poster asked me to express my
I probably should get around to writing something on this subject.
First, my voting history. I voted for the NDP in the recent Ontario provincial elections, but that's because I expected a Liberal victory, didn't feel a particular need to vote for them, and felt faintly sorry for the NDP and somewhat student-like. I didn't vote by proxy in the PEI provincial elections, but if I did I probably would have voted for the Tories. (Pat Binns is a nice guy.) I did vote for the Liberals in the last federal election, and I think I will again in the upcoming elections, mainly because I appreciate how my MP expedited my passport application back in July of 2002.
This leads to a second question: Don't I care about the Liberal financial scandals? Actually, not really. Certainly, corruption at the highest levels of the Canadian government is wrong and should be promptly rooted out. I quite enjoy seeing Paul Martin squirm, given the knowledge that he was almost certainly implicated in the behind-the-scenes planning. Myrian Bédard's destruction of her former boss, too, was entertaining. There just isn't enough sex, blackmail, or death to really keep my attention. Perhaps it's because I'm from Prince Edward Island, that notorious den of patronage, but I really don't care enough to be outraged.
But don't I care that this might let the Conservative Party come to power federally? Well, a bit. The only major policy issues which concern me are same-sex marriage (I'm for) and foreign policy (a Trudeauvian attitude works for me), and the Liberals would definitely be better than the Conservatives on both of these. I'm not sure in practice, though, how much things would differ. The lukewarm Liberal promises to pass a law enabling same-sex marriage definitely wouldn't be carried through, and I fear that the Conservatives share in the mindless Ameriphilia too often evidenced in the Reform Party and the Canadian Alliance. I don't think, though, that the Conservatives would be able to stop the momentum towards same-sex marriage, or to reverse its establishment in Ontario, Québec, and British Columbia, save at unacceptable political cost. As for foreign policy, the only foreign-policy move that Canada could make which would impress the current American administration would be to deploy troops to Iraq. I'll pay all of my readers one cent each the day that happens. What goes for a Conservative majority government goes doubly for a Conservative minority government.
Apart from vague ideological affiliations indicated by the names of the two major Canadian national political parties, I don't really see many substantial differences between them. Canadian politics, by and large, is apolitical and technocratic. Canada has fortunately escaped the United States' polarization into two camps, each represented by a major political party, neither believing the other capable of discourse or constructive contributions to national life. Now that the West has been brought back into the mainstream of center-right politics, we'll probably see a return to the pre-Mulroney bipolarity between Liberals and Tories (sorry, Conservatives), with the NDP appearing periodically from the sidelines and the only major difference being the existence of the Bloc Québécois.
I will vote, of course, whenever the federal election is called. I just find it hard to believe that whatever happens, things will change significantly.
opinions about recent political developments in canadian federal circles[.] popular Liberal strategist W.K. has predicted a possible minority government victory for the Conservatives next election, and he even gives the new party an almost favorable mention. i am interested as to what other canadian Liberals/lefties think about it.
I probably should get around to writing something on this subject.
First, my voting history. I voted for the NDP in the recent Ontario provincial elections, but that's because I expected a Liberal victory, didn't feel a particular need to vote for them, and felt faintly sorry for the NDP and somewhat student-like. I didn't vote by proxy in the PEI provincial elections, but if I did I probably would have voted for the Tories. (Pat Binns is a nice guy.) I did vote for the Liberals in the last federal election, and I think I will again in the upcoming elections, mainly because I appreciate how my MP expedited my passport application back in July of 2002.
This leads to a second question: Don't I care about the Liberal financial scandals? Actually, not really. Certainly, corruption at the highest levels of the Canadian government is wrong and should be promptly rooted out. I quite enjoy seeing Paul Martin squirm, given the knowledge that he was almost certainly implicated in the behind-the-scenes planning. Myrian Bédard's destruction of her former boss, too, was entertaining. There just isn't enough sex, blackmail, or death to really keep my attention. Perhaps it's because I'm from Prince Edward Island, that notorious den of patronage, but I really don't care enough to be outraged.
But don't I care that this might let the Conservative Party come to power federally? Well, a bit. The only major policy issues which concern me are same-sex marriage (I'm for) and foreign policy (a Trudeauvian attitude works for me), and the Liberals would definitely be better than the Conservatives on both of these. I'm not sure in practice, though, how much things would differ. The lukewarm Liberal promises to pass a law enabling same-sex marriage definitely wouldn't be carried through, and I fear that the Conservatives share in the mindless Ameriphilia too often evidenced in the Reform Party and the Canadian Alliance. I don't think, though, that the Conservatives would be able to stop the momentum towards same-sex marriage, or to reverse its establishment in Ontario, Québec, and British Columbia, save at unacceptable political cost. As for foreign policy, the only foreign-policy move that Canada could make which would impress the current American administration would be to deploy troops to Iraq. I'll pay all of my readers one cent each the day that happens. What goes for a Conservative majority government goes doubly for a Conservative minority government.
Apart from vague ideological affiliations indicated by the names of the two major Canadian national political parties, I don't really see many substantial differences between them. Canadian politics, by and large, is apolitical and technocratic. Canada has fortunately escaped the United States' polarization into two camps, each represented by a major political party, neither believing the other capable of discourse or constructive contributions to national life. Now that the West has been brought back into the mainstream of center-right politics, we'll probably see a return to the pre-Mulroney bipolarity between Liberals and Tories (sorry, Conservatives), with the NDP appearing periodically from the sidelines and the only major difference being the existence of the Bloc Québécois.
I will vote, of course, whenever the federal election is called. I just find it hard to believe that whatever happens, things will change significantly.
