One of my favourite episodes of South Park is the one where the elementary school has an election to vote on a new school mascot. This being South Park, of course, the two competing candidates are a giant douche and a turd sandwich. But far from just an excuse for gross-out hilarity, the show is actually a fairly accurate commentary on one of the annoyances of modern democracy—that all-too-common scenario where neither of the main candidates are particularly inspiring.
Enter the recent Canadian federal election. While Canada is fortunate enough to be blessed with a multi-party system to allow for plenty of dissenting voices, the overwhelming choice in recent elections has been between two frankly disillusioning candidates: the indecisive Paul Martin in the Liberal corner, and the wooden Stephen Harper in the Conservative. Despite widespread for the NDP, the Green party, or (in Québec) the Bloc Québécois, it was generally assumed that one of these two lackluster men would end up leading the government of Canada.
Although I voted Green, the prospect of a new Conservative government holds much greater appeal to me than another Liberal victory. Only time will tell whether this minority government will be beneficial to Canadians, but right now they appear to be the lesser of two evils. If a Tory government signals the country’s swing to the right, it is still preferable to yet another round of Liberal corruption and bumbling.
Throughout his tenure as prime minister, Paul Martin constantly referred to any number of issues as “priorities” for his government: health care, child care, taxation, the notwithstanding clause—the list goes on. But the overwhelming impression is that during his time in office, there was only one real priority for Martin: staying in office. To that end, his record stands as a series of half-hearted measures with no real focus.
During the 2004 federal election, the Liberals still came out victorious following a campaign based primarily on stirring up voter fears of a Conservative “hidden agenda” that would turn Canada into an American-style bastion of right-wing conservatism. They attempted to repeat this tactic in the recent election, relying on a series of attack ads that pushed the boundaries of plausibility, but it clearly wasn’t effective.
The Liberals were already tainted by allegations of corruption when the RCMP announced they were launching a criminal investigation into Finance Minister Ralph Goodale’s department for possible information leaks on Dec. 28. Besides the sponsorship scandal, the so-called “culture of entitlement” and the political power struggle between ers of Martin and former associates of Jean Chrétien were weakening the party from within. And, of course, we need not forget Belinda Stronach’s opportunist jump to the Liberals that saw her immediately assigned to a cabinet post, something most MPs work toward for years.
While the Liberal election campaign focused on attacking Stephen Harper, the Conservative campaign was widely praised for concentrating first and foremost on the issues. Despite having the personality of a cardboard cut-out, Harper stood in sharp contrast to the Liberals’ unfocused platform by touting a plan that would give attention to five main issues: federal ability, reducing taxes, cracking down on crime, establishing guaranteed wait times for health care and directly providing parents with child care money. Martin, meanwhile, ran a campaign that started late and lost focus as it devolved into mudslinging and fear-mongering.
A CBC poll following the election found that 54 per cent of Conservative voters made their decision “mainly because it’s time for a change,” while 41 per cent “mainly want a Conservative government.” The Conservatives have neither the popular nor the electoral mandate to institute any truly sweeping changes, much less anything that will turn Canada into a right-wing American mirror. The party was able to come into power by portraying itself as a moderate alternative to the Liberals, and as a result they will not be able to diverge greatly from that central platform without repercussion on the Hill and in the next election. The minority government Harper leads will not have the power to institute any massive right-wing changes, especially in such a predominantly liberal (small “L”) nation.
Dissent is healthy for any democracy, and for one party to remain in power for over 12 years is far too long. Under current circumstances, the Conservatives have positioned themselves during the campaign as a more than welcome break from the corrupt Liberal stranglehold on Canadian politics.
But having talked the talk, it remains to be seen whether Stephen Harper and the Conservatives can walk the walk.
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