Well, we’re off to the polls May 2nd. The government has fallen on a vote of non-confidence, which is to say, the opposition parties all got together and decided they don’t trust Stephen Harper and the conservatives. And, since we don’t joust anymore, and the mace on the table is only symbolic, that means election time. That’s modern, parliamentary democracy for you; not as entertaining, sensible or productive as mortal combat, but what can you do?
We will now spend the next few weeks following one non-story after another:
- Gilles Duceppe says “Stephen Harper lied.”
- Michael Ignatieff says “Stephen Harper misled the House.”
- Stephen Harper says “Michael Ignatieff is not a real Canadian.”
- Jack Layton agrees with Michael Ignatieff and Gilles Duceppe that Stephen Harper can’t be trusted, though he is still undecided as to Michael Ignatieff’s true nationality.
- Elizabeth May says “Jack Layton, Michael Ignatieff, Gilles Duceppe and Stephen Harper should settle down and learn to get along.”
- Some Liberal candidate said he didn’t think all sexual assaults are the same. A statement that obviously could be true depending what it means.
- The conservatives, NDP, and Bloc say this is shameful regardless what it means, and that the candidate should be fired.
- The Liberals agree that it is shameful regardless what it means, but he's a good man so he won’t be fired.
- Someone showed up at a Conservative rally in a chicken suit challenging Harper to debate Ignatieff.
- Ad nauseam, which is Latin for “I think I’m going to throw up”.
And then someone has the nerve to complain about “voter apathy”.
If you go to the Elections Canada website there’s a neat little chart of all the federal elections since Confederation, and you will see that voter turnout has ranged from a high of 79.4% in 1958 to a low of 58.8% in 2008. (There is a 44.6 recorded in 1898, but that was a referendum.) This means there has never been a federal election in Canada in which less than half the eligible voters voted, and it’s only in the last decade or so that the turnout has been less than two thirds. Now, I’m not sure what people expect, but this doesn’t seem dismally low to me. How many voluntary activities in this country can gather up more than 55% of the people all the time, and over 65% most of the time. No, it’s not the voters who are failing in this country, but the politicians and the media. Or, more precisely, it’s the entire political system. And what it needs is an uprising of citizens demanding a BIG RETHINK.
