Federal election: What Canadians really want

In most of the recent polls leading up to next month's election, the Conservatives have had the support of between 36-39 percent of decided voters and now the pundits are talking about them possibly forming a majority government.

It seems Canadians want the Conservatives in power. It seems they want more of what Prime Minister Stephen Harper has to offer. It seems Canadians are leaning to the right.

The only problem with all of that, of course, is that it's bullshit.

The fact of the matter remains that between 61 and 64 percent of Canadians (depending on which opinion poll you believe) support one of the other four parties: the Liberals, the NDP, the Greens, or the Bloc.

That is, 61-64 percent of Canadians support progressive political parties.

It's true, the Liberals haven't always been all that progressive and it's true they still have their right-wing elements, but, under the leadership of Stéphane Dion, they are clearly much more progressive than they have been in recent years... quite dramatically so when compared with Harper.

The reality of the Canadian political landscape is that most Canadians are quite open-minded, tolerant, liberal, and they want a government that will, among other things, take climate change seriously and stand up to the warmongers in the Bush White House, rather than kiss their asses.

They'd also probably prefer a leader who took pride in our national social programs, rather than one, like Harper, who, before coming to power, called Canada "a northern European welfare state in the worst sense of the term, and very proud of it" and "a second-tier socialist country, boasting ever more loudly about its economy and social services, to mask its second-rate status".

In short, they want a very different country from that envisioned by Harper and the Conservatives.

Vast Majority
In Canada we have a situation where four parties, supported by the vast majority of Canadians, seek common goals, while one party opposes just about everything.

A few examples:

a) All four parties (the Liberals, the NDP, the Greens, and the Bloc) supported the Kelowna Accord, an attempt to rectify the horrific situation the majority of Canada's Native people still find themselves in today.

Harper and the Conservatives killed it.

b) All four parties supported the Kyoto Treaty.

Harper and the Conservatives, for all intents and purposes, pulled us out of the treaty.

c) All four parties want to take real action on the environment and climate change.

Harper and the Conservatives don't seem to think there's any real problem, especially not one that lower taxes for the big oil companies won't fix.

d) All four parties supported the plan for a national day-care program.

Harper and the Conservatives scrapped it when they came to power.

e) All four parties, like the vast majority of Canadians, support gay marriage.

Harper and the Conservatives opposed it and, once in power, brought it up for another vote in parliament in a last ditch attempt to outlaw it. They failed.

f) All four parties were strongly against joining the Americans in their illegal invasion and occupation of Iraq.

Harper and the Conservatives wanted to follow their spiritual mentors Bush and Dick Cheney into war.

And the list goes on and on and on.

Tyranny of the Minority
Why do we have to live under the tyranny of the minority?

Canada is a progressive country. Period. The 38 percent or so who somehow find Harper to be their guy are entitled to their opinion and their vote, but they have no right running the country and implementing their backward, planet-destroying, homophobic ideas on the vast majority of Canadians who don't agree with them on just about anything.

Over the past 20 years, the Right in Canada has always retained the support of approximately one-third of the electorate, with that number occasionally rising to about 40 percent or so. That was true when the right-wing vote was split between the Conservatives and the Reform/Canadian Alliance parties in the 1990s, and it's still true today.

The only way the Conservatives ever win power, such as they did three years ago and as they look likely to do again this election, is when the more progressive parties split the vote.

However, winning a minority with less than 40 percent of the vote is one thing, winning a majority (as the Liberals did in 1997) is another. It simply makes a mockery out of the word democracy.

It's As Easy As ABC
No doubt about it, what we need in this country is a reformed electoral system (more about that tomorrow), but for the time being, let's just hope we at least get what Newfoundland Premier Danny Williams has been calling for with his ABC campaign: Anyone But the Conservatives!

Read on: Federal election: What Canadians really need

Mike Cowie is a writer currently embarked on a book about his three-year trip across Asia with his wife, Sonoko. Read more of Mike’s views on his Web site.

Comments

2 Comments

David Wong

Sep 19, 2008 at 1:35pm

Interesting dissertation.

Harper also took the "Progressive" out of the Progressive Conservatives when the old Alliance aka Reform joined at the hips with the PCs.

I had voted Conservative during the last two elections. The candidates were progressive and passed some simple intelligence tests.

This time the Conservatives must be wetting their dreams as the candidate in my humble riding is an ethnic. She is also a "she", a small business sort ... and she also breathes (at least we think she does). The friggen Conservatives must have thought they died and woke up in heaven with this catch.

Only problem is, she's invisible and no one has explained to us about the fat "consulting" awards she's received from the Feds. The last contract she landed, according to the Gov of Canada website, was over half a million bucks.

And that's a lot of beaver pelts... So where do we sign up?

What Next

Sep 23, 2008 at 11:14am

As a Canadian Small Business Owner I am shocked at the way the Mr Dion says he is going to help farmers and small business owners by providing them with funding. It has been my experience that the funding is there. BUT!!! I found in dealing with the red tape don't hold your breath waiting to be accepted. He may well put funding in place but preference will be given to liberal suporters first.
I would also like to know why it is easier for people in other countries to recieve funding for small business in Canada then for Canadians?
Why does our government allocate x number of government jobs to immigrants?
This is not an attack on immigrants, but I am wondering why Canadians are being discriminated by our own government.
These policies were put in place by the Liberals and have not changed.
If the conservatives get in a majourity, will they bring back the redtape commission? Will they review the funding policies put in for small business, farmers etc?
I believe they will.. The mess we are in right now was years in the making all thanks to Liberals supporting liberal voters rather than ALL CANADIANS.