Vote for whom in the Canadian election?

All the independent uncommitted voters attending a candidates meeting last night in our riding discovered every candidate regardless of party affiliation would follow the party line. All the hopefuls boasted that if elected, or in the case of the NDP reelected, the party line and party decisions will be influenced by the federal party  policies. Every candidate answered the question of whether the constituent wishes or party direction would take precedents when voting on issues affecting local concerns. Each claimed indignantly that the wishes of constituents would come first with reservations. It was at least a mass admission that party politics has and always will trump local concerns.

Now with less than three weeks to Election Day pundits and analysts wonder why voter turnout is so low in Canada. The reason is obvious. Elections, particularly the 2011 campaign, is that after spending another $300 million, or probably more, politicians can fight a campaign meant only for politicians. The inconvenience of having to cater to voters does stand in the way to a small degree. For the most part, though, dedicated party supporters together with a few angry activists are the only people attending and listening to the rhetoric at these so-called public meetings.

It is difficult to understand how a man like Jack Layton after leading the NDP for almost a decade as the third party opposition leader can claim to be expecting to become Prime Minister. The conversation must be different behind closed doors of the party war room. Party politics is so secretive the NDP could be working to close in on the Liberal seat numbers, and then propose a merger where NDP members hold some cabinet posts. That is one scenario if the two parties are part of another Conservative minority government. It would be a simple matter early in the new session to upset a CPC minority and ask the Governor General to give the NDP/Liberal merger an opportunity to govern. Maybe that is the reason Stephen Harper seems so terrified of a coalition upsetting his bid to remain Prime Minister. The Bloq Quebecois or BQ might not become a factor thereby ruling out the coalition factor.

The Liberals seem to be flailing around in political confusion. The years in power, charges and disclosures of frauds and political favoritism for friends, seems to have annihilated the party as a serious contender to return as the ruling party. Michael Ignatieff seems like an intelligent, likable, educator but shy on the ability, as today’s political leaders must, to insult, degrade and accuse opponents of wrongdoing. Ignatieff would probably have been better as a Governor General than the leader of a major opposition party in serious decline.

The Canadian Conservative Party led by Stephen Harper is everything Canadians traditionally abhor. Accused and often proven an untruthful government with the tenancy to superimpose ideas on the opposition, public service and the public, the Harperites appear as a frightening new identity on the political scene that most Canadians fear. The Conservatives can so far win a large enough portion of the votes to win minority government status. They bully, threaten, employ secretive tactics, manipulate parliament, destroy the careers of civil servants opposing their direction, and keep losing the respect Canada forged on the world stage. For the 60% TO 65% of Canadians that either do not vote or support other parties, the Harper Conservatives are a frightening new dimension in Canadian politics. Many and probably a majority of voters will likely shy away from giving Stephen Harper the coveted majority needed to implement monumental irreversible change.

So as voters where do we caste that all-important vote? Not one eligible voter should refuse to take the time to vote as television screens fill with people rioting, protesting and dying for just an opportunity for a free vote. On May 3, 2011 will Canada have more of the same bickering and political name-calling, a majority Conservative government or a merger of the left leaning Liberal/NDP candidates governing for the four or five years? The choice is up to you the voter.