Post by Rose on Oct 17, 2008 22:37:07 GMT -5
Most of you will know the Canadian Federal election results by now. I wrote that it would be fierce competition, but it was only so among the running candidates in the various local ridings. We have had a dismal voting turnout. It seems US politics have completely overshadowed our interest in homeland politics. See below for commentary:
Apathy Gains Majority In Federal Election
by Matthew Good
election.rabble.ca/
The federal election produced two results – a practically unchanged government and the lowest voter turnout in Canadian history.
While there are those that will shake their heads at that fact and claim it despicable, the stark reality is that a great many Canadians have simply become fed up with federal politics. This was, after all, the third federal election in four years, one that saw the Prime Minister break his own election law in an attempt to gain a majority, and one in which no party leader really stood out as quality leadership material.
After spending $300 million dollars of taxpayers money, this morning Canadians awoke to fact that another Conservative minority government is in power. True, the argument can be made that if more people voted the results might have been different – but then again, it can also be viewed as a lack of confidence and interest in this nation’s leaders.
We live in a democratic country – on paper anyway as perceived by millions of Canadians - and therefore should cherish the power that we have to elect our representatives, there’s no questioning that. But at the same time, there is the very real possibility that many Canadians saw this election for what it was – a political maneuver on the part of the Conservatives to gain a majority. Like it or not, that does not represent the people’s democratic interests, only the vanity of Mr. Harper who took a gamble yesterday and lost. That gamble could very well see Canadians return to the polls in another year, making it four federal elections in five years.
Lastly, there is the fact that this election cost Canadians $300 million dollars in a time global economic crisis. This morning Mr. Harper unveiled a new six-point economic plan to deal with the financial ramifications of the current crisis. Unfortunately for Canadians, $300 million dollars that could have been used to bolster social programs has evaporated for the sake of an additional sixteen Conservative seats in the House. Ironically, the addition of those sixteen seats will no doubt empower Mr. Harper to claim that the Canadian public has given his party a clear mandate to lead, despite the fact that it technically didn’t.
When all is said and done, Canadians have to look at both the last government and this new government and ask a very serious question. If the last one wasn’t working because of political infighting which saw its ability to function diminished, how will this new one be any different? If the Parliamentary blame game is going to continue to consume the House, what did this election accomplish other than the establishment of the status quo?
Analytically speaking, Stephen Harper should have walked away with it. First, he faced easily one of the worst Liberal leaders in that party’s history. Second, he’s an economist, and his expertise, given what has been transpiring financially around the world, should have been far more pronounced. Truth be told, if he couldn’t do it last night he never will, a fact that should be resounding with Conservative supporters this morning - more so than the fact that the party has secured its second minority government in a row. The cold, hard truth is that if the Conservatives possessed the true support of the Canadian public they would have won a majority. Thus, the fact that they failed to do so in the most apathetic election since Confederation speaks volumes.