Yes, that’s right, the cynic in me is back. Now I just want to start out by saying that I am the last person who would ever presume that Canadians don’t care about their parliament or their politics. I think they do. They care when parliament is arguing about issues that actually matter to them; pensions, doctors, drug prices, costs of living, etc. These are real issues that REALLY matter to REAL people in Canada. For those few of us who really do delve into the nitty gritty that is parliament hill we tend to take at face value that all Canadians will be as righteously outraged as we will be about certain things i.e. corruption in government, patronage appointments, the two contempt charges currently being met out against the government and the spending being dealt out by the government to convince the public of it’s good government. Do Canadians care about these kinds of thins? Yes, of course they do. Do these kinds of things actually make Canadians want an election? Hell no. How many times do Canadians have to send minority parliaments to Ottawa before politicians and the chatterers like us realize that, and I’m going to emphasize this, THEY WANT PARLIAMENTARIANS TO WORK TOGETHER FOR THEIR (CANADIANS) BENEFIT. An election will not return anything of vast difference then what we have seen since the Paul Martin minority. Whether Liberal minority or Conservative, the agenda will continue to be set by the neo-liberal ruling class which is headed by multinational corporations. It makes absolutely ZERO difference whether or not the Conservatives of the Liberals rule in Ottawa. One group pretends to be left of center, when they aren’t, and the other lies about it’s motivations, when we know what they are.
Canadians have said their peace. This is one of the leading reasons why people don’t show up to the polls. They don’t honestly feel that parliament is actually working for them, but rather cares more about short term partisan advantage and one or two more percentage point gains. Do I want an election? Yes. Do I despise Harper and what he has done to Ottawa and the rest of Canada? Yes. But do Canadians at large feel the same way I do? Not a chance. Most Canadians really just get along to go along. They just want sound and honest government. They haven’t gotten this for almost a full decade at the least and are turning off to politics by and large. It would actually go a long way for the Conservatives and the NDP, for example, to meet on common interests and actually make parliament work. It could be the Liberals to. Canadians have made their point and it’s about time that parliamentarians actually LISTENED for once.
As an afterword, I believe there will be an election this year, as I feel that the rhetoric has become too hot for the NDP to turn away from.
