The Omnifarium - Politics/2-days-before-election.html

Two Days Before Election

Category: Politics
Sat, 21 Jan 2006, 18:22

A couple of weeks ago, we offered to host a campaign sign on our lawn. Over the next few days, signs started sprouting on many of our neighbors' lawns too! Currently, the sign count on our street is six Conservative, two Liberal, and one NDP. Of course, signs don't mean much. Our neighborhood normally leans heavily towards the Conservatives, but it's not really representative of the rest of the riding.

Red, orange and blue election signs on our street.

Yesterday, Conservative candidate Pauline Browes personally dropped off yet another flyer. I would have liked to chat with her, but I really wasn't in the mood, recovering from a very painful muscle spasm in my neck. Besides, we already voted in the advance polls. In retrospect, though, I should have asked to take a photo of her just in case she does win on Monday.

Browes seems like a nice enough person, and it's hard to find fault with many of the things she stands for. The problem is with the rest of her party and its leader. Many of Stephen Harper's promises are just too silly. For example, he promised to cut the GST, which is the opposite of what most economists recommend. He also wants to cut support to daycare programs, and pay $100 a month directly to parents of young children. This is nowhere near enough for private daycare. And without the public money, there still won't be enough subsidized daycare space available. Then there's the promise to make the cost of transit passes deductible, which should increase the popularity of public transit. But what's the point if the municipalities can't afford to handle the increased ridership?

What about the Liberals? It may well be time for a change, but don't forget how well the Liberals managed to turn a massive budget deficit into a healthy surplus. The Conservatives like to think of themselves as the better financial managers, but it was the Conservatives under Brian Mulroney who ran up the deficit so high. If Harper implements all of his promises, the federal budget may well go back into the red. Compared to the Conservatives, the Liberal promises make much more sense for the economy.

So did I vote Liberal in the advance poll? Even as we entered the polling station, I was still largely undecided. As someone who leans to the left on many issues, the NDP candidate was the natural choice. But the Green Party deserved support since environmental protection is so vitally important. Then there was the temptation to vote strategically. Voting Liberal may help to keep the Conservative candidate out of Ottawa. On the other hand, the reason why I didn't vote for John McKay last time still applied this time. If Harper hadn't promised to re-open the issue of same-sex marriage in parliament, I would have been more willing to vote strategically for McKay this time. But since Harper made it an issue, and since McKay's position (and past voting record) is to deny rights from same-sex couples, there was no way I could vote for him this time.

It's now just two days before the national election, and public opinion polls are predicting a Conservative win. The only remaining question is will it be a minority or a majority? Minority government served us pretty well over the past two years. We can only hope we get another minority government again this time.

Hans

path: /Politics | permanent link to this entry