sick of electioneering
i haven't been watching as much news as usual the last few days. it's pretty depressing right now, what with the constant threats of elections and the cloud of gomery hanging over ottawa like a senators' playoffs stinkfest (thankfully we've been spared that this year).
i'm sick of it. sick of the bickering, sick of the media attention given to the bickering, and sick of the potential bickering fallout, the threat of another string of years of ineffective (more than usual) governance and the guarantee that real news will be given a back seat to political posturing for the forseeable future. yesterday stephen harper slipped to a new low in suggesting that the liberals were pushing back a non-confidence vote just to see if the health of two conservative mps would turn for the worse. of course this was for naught as the conservatives flew in the members while the liberals let their ace in the hole (who was resting up from his cancer treatment and couldn't attend) remain in treatment and continue to wait for a by-election in a riding they are somewhat guaranteed to win. there was little sense that the conservatives would wait for those two problems to rectify themselves, but that didn't stop harper from sticking his foot so far into his mouth he was tasting knee.
not that the liberals (in their current reincarnation) are blameless amidst this disgusting affair. i blame them most for missing ve day - that was a national disgrace without precedent. as obvious a ploy to demonize the opposition by positing that they would call a vote while the prime minister was across the pond recognizing the sacrifices made by canadian soldiers 60 years ago, i was surprised the opposition didn't raise more criticism, or make their own efforts to get their collective asses overseas.
it appears that the canadian public is shedding the liberals like a winter parka - it's spring and the suffocating stench of smugness has become too much. but no one is running into the arms of the conservatives, with good cause. they are a rudderless craft, still trying to iron out the lumps of a union that was both cryptic and fragile. cryptic because at the time the differences between the two parties seemed monumental, especially given their unique and quite distinct histories, and fragile because of the infighting and general feeling of loss by the members of the conservative old guard. harper has been acting like a power hungry henchman the past few months, spewing forth venom as if it had political wings, chewing up the scenery in his brooding suits and plastic hair. i have yet to hear anything resembling policy escape his lips since the last election, except when he giddily announced that the liberal budget of 2005 was a conservative budget. of course this glee lasted all of a few days before the general malaise of parliament hill rolled back into ottawa.
the only person coming out of this mess in a positive light is jack layton who has made the only constructive efforts to keep parliament going and produce something for the past 10 months of bickering. jack has even kept his smugness to a minimum, a feat of monumental effort that appears to have wrangled a number of dissatisfied liberals his way. this of course is merely speculative as the polls could shift back in favour of the liberals once conservative and bloc gains scare the canadian populace into believing that we're headed toward a conservative majority. expect to see a few more ndp come to ottawa in the next election but don't bet the house on a flood. depending on the make-up of the support we might just see a stronger liberal / ndp union next time we go to the polls if the liberal support bleeds orange. of course i'm still holding out for a green or two to make it in, especially in vote rich b.c., but i won't be holding my breath.
i'm sick of it. sick of the bickering, sick of the media attention given to the bickering, and sick of the potential bickering fallout, the threat of another string of years of ineffective (more than usual) governance and the guarantee that real news will be given a back seat to political posturing for the forseeable future. yesterday stephen harper slipped to a new low in suggesting that the liberals were pushing back a non-confidence vote just to see if the health of two conservative mps would turn for the worse. of course this was for naught as the conservatives flew in the members while the liberals let their ace in the hole (who was resting up from his cancer treatment and couldn't attend) remain in treatment and continue to wait for a by-election in a riding they are somewhat guaranteed to win. there was little sense that the conservatives would wait for those two problems to rectify themselves, but that didn't stop harper from sticking his foot so far into his mouth he was tasting knee.
not that the liberals (in their current reincarnation) are blameless amidst this disgusting affair. i blame them most for missing ve day - that was a national disgrace without precedent. as obvious a ploy to demonize the opposition by positing that they would call a vote while the prime minister was across the pond recognizing the sacrifices made by canadian soldiers 60 years ago, i was surprised the opposition didn't raise more criticism, or make their own efforts to get their collective asses overseas.
it appears that the canadian public is shedding the liberals like a winter parka - it's spring and the suffocating stench of smugness has become too much. but no one is running into the arms of the conservatives, with good cause. they are a rudderless craft, still trying to iron out the lumps of a union that was both cryptic and fragile. cryptic because at the time the differences between the two parties seemed monumental, especially given their unique and quite distinct histories, and fragile because of the infighting and general feeling of loss by the members of the conservative old guard. harper has been acting like a power hungry henchman the past few months, spewing forth venom as if it had political wings, chewing up the scenery in his brooding suits and plastic hair. i have yet to hear anything resembling policy escape his lips since the last election, except when he giddily announced that the liberal budget of 2005 was a conservative budget. of course this glee lasted all of a few days before the general malaise of parliament hill rolled back into ottawa.
the only person coming out of this mess in a positive light is jack layton who has made the only constructive efforts to keep parliament going and produce something for the past 10 months of bickering. jack has even kept his smugness to a minimum, a feat of monumental effort that appears to have wrangled a number of dissatisfied liberals his way. this of course is merely speculative as the polls could shift back in favour of the liberals once conservative and bloc gains scare the canadian populace into believing that we're headed toward a conservative majority. expect to see a few more ndp come to ottawa in the next election but don't bet the house on a flood. depending on the make-up of the support we might just see a stronger liberal / ndp union next time we go to the polls if the liberal support bleeds orange. of course i'm still holding out for a green or two to make it in, especially in vote rich b.c., but i won't be holding my breath.
posted by Ottawan Dave | 1:32 p.m.
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