Trying to Recover...Election '08

As the title suggests, I'm still trying to recover from the unfortunate fact that we face anywhere from 2 to 4 more years of Stephen Harper & co., albeit in a minority government situation...again. What really makes this so unfortunate is the fact that over 60% of Canadians reject the Conservatives, which really means that, though they ended up with more seats than any other party, they do not have a mandate...unless you call minority rule (in every sense of the term) a mandate. We need to switch to some form of proportional representation (PR) or we risk undemocratic rule, with potentially disasterous consequences.

The time of the first-past-the-post system belongs...well...in the past, or, at the very best, in a two-party state (ie. the US). Canadians have, for some time now, given their support to 4 (or 5) different parties, and it makes absolutely no sense for those votes not to count. Many Candaians prefer the minority government situations because it forces the parties to work together in order to govern effectively. Enter PR. Under this system, parties would be forced to make coalitions, and 22 Green seats (roughly the number they would have had now) could not be ignored by the holders of the largest share of the seats, whether it's the Liberals, the NDP...or...someone else.

I doubt, however, that Harper will make any effort to change the electoral system that has been so good to him...the only system under which he can possibly form government, as things now stand. I also doubt it would be Jack Layton, who, for all his talk about PR, has been very well served by the current system and seems perfectly happy to allow the misguided "governance" of the Conservatives to continue, as long as his party gains more seats, knowing full well that he shall not be Prime Minister in the foreseeable future.

In fact, one can give credit to Mr. Layton for the fact that the Kelowna Accord (which he supposedly supports) has not been implemented. Credit is also due to Mr. Layton, in some measure, for the fact that the Afghan mission has been extended to 2011. Had he not insisted on immediate withdrawal, which, as an intelligent man, he should've known to be impossible, the mission end date would probably have been 2009, a date the Liberals were prepared to work with. For someone who is supposedly so disgusted with Conservative policies, and someone who has higher ambitions (think PM), he shows a staggering lack of judgment, or at least, political skill.

And what about the Liberals? While they were perfectly happy to do nothing about the electoral system while they had their majorities...they could, given good leadership (and no, this is not a dig at Mr. Dion, who, I fear is being unjustly singled out and attacked for the current misfortunes of the party) help to bring this about. After all, historically, the Liberals have proven to be the party that (at least sometimes) actually listens to others' ideas (think healthcare) and, implements them.

And the Greens? Well, Elizabeth May has stated on several occasions that PR is the way to go. Of course she does...her party would actually get seats then. But that's the whole point--the roughly 10% of Canadians who vote Green deserve to be represented in Ottawa. Would Ms. May be singing the same tune if her party was in power? Who knows?

Where does all this leave us then? Well..perhaps, perhaps the progressive parties can truly get together on this and for once force a really meaningful change. Give us PR and let us have it for a while and, if there are any doubts after a while of doing this...have a referendum on it. 21st century, or the 19th? I think the choice is clear.

First Post

Welcome! Just a little test...As the title implies, I intend to be true to myself and discuss whatever strikes my fancy at the time of writing...So...anything goes...from the weather to sports to politics to literature...you get the idea.