Musings of a Wench

Boring political geek talk

I'm totally loving this part of the election. Things are getting fun! The mudslinging, the negative campaign add, Jack Layton's cheesy demeanor... It rocks. We watched the debate on Monday, and it was some of the best hours of television we've seen in a while, based on how often we laughed.

To those not familiar with Canadian politics, it's all rather silly and somewhat complicated. Right now we have 4 main parties, all somewhat based on regional lines, and a handful of other parts never likely to be elected. (I'm talking to you Marijuana party, Marxist Leninist party, Communist Party, Freaky Right Wing Christian Party of Women Haters and others...) In Canada, you only vote for the guy in your riding, and which ever party has the most people elected gets to form the government. If they win a majority, government is easy and stable, but the last time, 18 months ago, the Liberals only won a minority and the government fell rather quickly. Normally we have around 4 years between elections, but it depends, as a majority government can have the election whenever they want, and a minority government isn't that hard to topple - all the other parties just have to agree to a vote of non confidence.

We've had many years of Liberal government, and they've screwed up pretty badly - we are awash in scandals right now, and I'd say corruption is scarily high. As a typical Albertan, I support the Conservative party, because what the hell, the understand the concept of fiscal responsibility, they think the government shouldn't be making all your decisions and stress a certain amount of personal responsibility. Also, I think the New Democratic Party would destroy the economy in a month (if Alberta hadn't separated already), and I'm not allowed to vote for the Quebec seperationist party, because they don't run in ridings outside of la belle province. And the Liberals have been in power for just too damn long.

However, I'm in Steven Harper's riding (the head of the Conservative party) and the leader is always in a safe riding. John is going to vote Marijuana, just because he can. I might too, but probably not, because I'm a huge political nerd and take this rather seriously. I mean, I turned 18 and the very next day there was a school board election and I was so excited I got to vote. I mean, less than 200 people voted in my riding so my vote really counted, you know? I was far more excited by voting than I was by the fact I could now legally drink (like I hadn't been drinking for 6 years by that point) and gamble (I've bought one scratch and win ticket, won nothing and never could be bothered to play again).

Let me make one thing clear - if I was an American, I would have voted Democratic without even thinking about it. While both the Republican party and the Conservative party are right of centre, the are sure as hell not the same. At all. I mean, the press often tries to paint Harper's party with that brush, but it's crap. My cousin married the daughter of a Calgary MP - who is a lovely man and a devout Hindu. Yes, Hindu. From India, not Christian, that whole thing. It's really not the monolithic white Christian party the Liberal press likes to present it as. And even Harper, more likely to go to war than all the others, has repeatedly stated he would not do anything without a major international consensus.

So there is my rambly political bit. If you are Canadian, vote on the 23rd. Even if you vote for the Fundamental Christian Right Wing Party of Hate (Aka Christi@n Herit@ge Party)

posted by Morgan @ 8:09 a.m.