Tuesday, January 24, 2006

After the election.

On Monday January 23rd, 2006 the Canadian people made it clear that even though they were scared of not knowing what Stephen Harper might do, they were even more horrified and upset with the Liberal's history in power.

I am pleased to see a Conservative Government, and with it I hope to see an onset of moral legislations coming from Ottawa (instead of them passing laws that condone immorality). My biggest concern for this Government is getting the support they need from the other parties to fulfill the promises they made. And then of course if the Conservatives are unable to fill all their promises, are the voters going to see that the onus lies on the other parties who don't back the legislations? I myself doubt it, and I say this because most Canadians don't get involved enough with politics to vote responsibly (See Informed voters below), let alone understand the way Parliament works. Simply put this means that when the average person hears about a bill they like being defeated they will put the blame on the Conservative Government, instead of looking at the house voting results and finding out who actually caused the bill to fail.

There are a number of things that bother me about elections, and here are a few of them.

Campaign Tactics:
While I understand that these tactics are now the norm for today’s politicians, I feel that they detract from the integrity of the politician that employs them. They also demean the public by their obvious implication that we are not intelligent enough to think past base emotions like fear and anger, or that we don't want to hear (or that we wouldn't understand) the real issues. It’s time to get over this era of fear mongering, and start telling the people truthfully where they stand! This doesn’t mean a bunch of numbers, charts and confusing information, but it can be simply put into a format that everyone would understand and give them solid ground to base their opinions on.

Candidates, Image versus Honesty:
I read an article in the local paper which said "there is no wit, no wisdom and frankly not much fun, either. Where's the buffoonery?” when referring to modern politicians. This made me wonder what we are looking for in our politicians. Is it responsible, mature, moral individuals, or is it people that can not show any type of self control and their idiotic and outrageous antics are there to entertain us on a regular basis? Don't we get enough foolishness out of the celebrities in Hollyweird that we should want for the leaders of our country NOT to act like this? Are we so spoon fed on this constant diet of ridiculousness that we need it from everyone in the public eye, or can we overcome our need for the absurd to take a minute and look seriously at this very important issue? Would you really want Mr. Bean as your Prime Minister (or even an MP in your riding)? I "personally", will take the time to look for someone moral and responsible, even if they may not appear “fun”.

Voter Responsibility:
Three simple things here;
1. Get to know the FACTS, and not just the propaganda spouted on campaign ads!
2. Don’t stop with only knowing what your MP stands for, but know what the party policies and values are, because those values are the ultimately what your MP stands for.
3. It is YOUR responsibility to find this information out to become an informed voter, and anyone truly interested in the best thing for their area and their country will not just “vote for who they’ve always voted for” but will make the effort to help better our country by becoming an “INFORMED VOTER”.


God bless Canada,

Bob