Tomorrow is election day, and you would not believe the ordeal that I had to go through in order to vote from the United States. To sum up: they do not send ballots via courier, but regular mail, they don't care whether the ballot gets to you or not, and I spent over five hours on the phone in total trying to arrange for a courier to bring one to me, in part due to international difficulties, in part due to incompetence at Elections Canada. In the end, I am reasonably certain my vote arrived in time to be counted, although I'll never really know. What I do know is that Ralph Goodale owes me a beer the next time I see him after what I went through to vote for him.
In American politics, of which I know a great deal given I have had an interest in it for decades now, I would consider myself unquestionably a Republican. On The Simpsons, their philosophy was summed up as "lowering taxes, brutalizing criminals, and [ruling like kings]". There is actually a lot of truth to that, but I digress. The reason I support the Republican party is because in America there are really only two parties to choose from, and they are for the most part exactly the same, except the right-wing extremists are part of the Republican party, and the left-wing extremists are not part of the Republican party. There reason why I choose Republicans over Democrats is because the Republicans are a known entity, with principles (right or wrong) that define how they act in certain situations. This reasoning can be framed in a comparison between their two leaders. George W. Bush has certain beliefs that he bases his decisons on, and they never change. As Bill Clinton himself said, George W. is today just doing exactly what he campaigned that he would do before the election. I don't agree with a lot of what he has to say about abortion, stem-cell research, gay marriage, etc. but I appreciate that he does have views on the matter. John Kerry, by comparison, supports whatever will get him in power. He has no beliefs that guide him other than the polls. You can see this in his voting record. Changing your position on things when you receive new information or look at something a different way is great, but the sheer volume of conflicting opinions this guy has had, in addition to him being the biggest guy on the take in Washington, illustrates he'll always do and say whatever it takes for power. However, in the end, an American with President John Kerry would not be much different, except all the good things that George W. has done in office will be gone. The bottom line is that both parties are very far out in one way of thinking and operating, one that I happen to think is not the best way to govern. Choosing between one of the two parties is not really a choice at all. America really needs to reform its political system, and I'm afraid that it is just too big of a subject for me to cover right now.
In Canada, we are a lot more lucky for a variety of reasons, both because we have a bit more choice and because we've chosen a system of living that provides for the best of both worlds. In the end, my choice of party at the moment is Liberal, and I have good reasons for this choice. Canada is a country with many social safety nets, which I am very proud of, even if resist calling Canada a socialist state. It is built into our collective unconscious that, in the words of one of the biggest hypocrites and liars in the free world, Michael Moore, "We're all Canadians, we're all in the same boat. If one of us gets sick, that person should get health care 'cause we're all affected." When I say that I am right wing, it is inexorably a viewpoint coming from the Canadian political framework, where even the most conservative Canadian would be viewed as having liberal viewpoints in the United States. While most of my political beliefs could probably be classified as conservative or libertarian (hey, I'm a mixed bag), I'm comfortable with the way the Liberals have run the country since its inception.
The Conservative party really represents those whose beliefs are closer to those of the average American politician, and since I value the differences between Canada and the United States so very, very much (come along with me on a road trip to the States to see my daily rage and you'll soon understand), I just can't support them, even if I agree with such things as lowering taxes and investing in Canada's military (side bar: I don't believe in creating a war machine, I believe in maintaining and improving our peace keeping ability. Our military is at the point where there equipment is falling apart, they can't afford new uniforms, and where it is embarassing to Canada on the international stage. Canada had the most feared soldiers in the world only 50 years ago, and now it is the opposite. We should either fund them properly or abolish our military all together). Beyond that, given that they had 10 years to govern our country in the 1980s and spent themselves out of every problem so that Paul Martin had to deal with it later by cutting everything in sight, I say they had their chance and they blew it, and their rhetoric has not changed much since. To those who think the Liberals and the Conservatives are the same, think of Ralph Nader, a man who arguably has a lot more concern for people than you and a better understanding of politics. He understands the difference, so I hope you can learn to as well.
The Liberal party, by contrast, other than mismanaging approximately 3 billion dollars (be aware that this is less than 0.001% of all the money they were charged with handling since taking power, and notice the I said mismanaging, not losing) and not taking the signing of the Kyoto accord and its commitments to the developing world seriously, have given us nearly a decade straight of balanced budgets (the best track record in the western world) while at least maintaining the state of our social programs. Basically, the best government in the free world, n'est-ce pas?
I haven't forgotten about our other choice here in Canada, the NDP, the most socialist party we have, and one that is sometimes so far out on the left you can't even see them. I will tell you, I have read the entire 66-page NDP platform for this election, and I have to say I have not read anything both so idealistic and unfeasible in a long time. What is even funnier is that in some parts of it, they simply can't point out anything wrong with the current way the country is being run, and go so far as to basically compliment the Liberal party for their handling of various situations. The NDP is pushing a platform that tries to turn Canada into the utopia I know it will eventually be, but without acknowledging the society we live in today. It is a platform built on knee-jerk reactions to problems in our society without any regard for how we will get from here to there. Taxation is just one issue out of many that they just don't have a clue about. It is easy to say that corporations should pay more taxes, but the fact is that in today's global society, corporations that are taxed will just move to a place that isn't. You can say that is a good thing, but you would be ignoring the fact that corporations and wealthy individuals pay the majority of all tax dollars, and you would be bankrupting yourself. If you don't believe me, ask the Saskatchewan NDP, the government of the most socialist part of Canada. Did you know that many former and current senior members of Cabinet in the Saskatchewan NDP own an off-shore corporation, funneling profits from some of their companies into tax shelters in the Caribbean? The Saskatchewan NDP understands how the world works, why doesn't Jack Layton? The answer - he has never had to deal with problems affecting a country, and it shows. I have been in a room for an hour with Paul Martin, and I have been in a room for an hour with Jack Layton, and the difference is remarkable. Paul Martin understands how the world works, and Jack Layton could not be more confused (which amazes me, given the academic credentials the guy has). With that being said, Jack Layton sounds like a guy who really cares, and seems like a real go-getter, so I would hope that some 100,000 to 250,000-person city in Canada snaps him up as their mayor; he could probably give Pat Fiacco a run for the title of "Most Popular Mayor Ever"!
In my head, I know that the Liberals are the best party to govern Canada. In my heart, I know that we have a long way to go before we are truly an evolved society. In the meantime, I am proud of where we are today and the direction we are headed in the future. The governance of our country needs tweaking, not radical change, so I urge you to head to the polls on Monday and vote Liberal!