I Have Been Avoiding...

I have been avoiding saying anything about the recent Canadian Election. I have been suffering from mixed feelings that I am having trouble putting into words. But here goes.

First I am very happy about what happened in our own riding, North Island - Powell River where my candidate Rachael Blaney of the NDP was elected. In fact all the Vancouver Island seats went NDP with the exception of Sannich - Gulf Islands which went to Elizabeth May and her Green Party. This was the only win across Canada for the Greens whom I don't like because although they are good on environmental issues they are terrible on economic issues and end up supporting the Conservatives more often than not.

Harper and his Conservatives had to go, there was no question about that. He has always been a war monger, taking Canada from it's traditional peacekeeping status to that of a participant in ground and air warfare. Canadians were fed up with that as unlike the US, our economy and 'national pride' does not depend on continuous wars. The other thing he did which was totally repugnant to Canadians was to hire a 'consultant' from Australia who introduced Islamaphobia and hatred of Muslims into the campaign. This action turned my and most other Canadian's stomachs.

His introduction of his "anti-terror' Bill C-51 as well as his hotline to report neighbours conducting 'un-Canadian' activities was unpalatable and designed to separate Canadians into what he called "Old Stock" Canadians and 'foreigners' who in his opinion have no business here. He also actively supported the Trans Pacific Partnership Free Trade Deal which will take thousands of Canadian jobs. These are just some of the issues that wrote Harper's ticket out of town.

So... the options. There was a huge push to elect the "Liberals", who also support Bill C-51 and the TPP Free Trade Deal. I use quotation marks because Canada's Liberals are anything but liberal. They are just another right wing party that has become very good at hiding their true agenda. They campaign from the left and govern from the right. With a Conservative you know what you are getting. He looks you right in the eye and says he is going to screw you and that is exactly what he does, screws you. No surprises, you get what you vote for. A "Liberal" on the other hand will look you right in the eye and tell you he is your friend and as soon as you elect him, he screws you. So that is what we have for the next four years, a Liberal government. Will they prove to be better than the Conservatives? Maybe but only because no one could be worse.

My party, the NDP started out high in the polls as Canadians turned to a government as far away from the Conservatives as possible. Then the Liberal machine started their fear tactics of "if you don't vote Liberal you will end up with Harper again". They accomplished this with their Strategic Voting campaign which took hundreds of thousands of votes away from NDP candidates (many were incumbents) and shifted them to the Liberals. One pollster estimated that 6% of Canadians fell for this fear tactic. The result was a huge majority for the Liberals and the NDP falling into third place behind the Conservatives. A sad situation for those of us who have spent our entire adult lives working for this Democratic Socialist Party.

But as Party Founder Tommy Douglas, quoting Andrew Barton often said,

'I am hurt but I am not slain.

I'll lay me down and bleed awhile,

Then I'll rise and fight again.'