What’s Happening to Canadian Democracy?
Published on April 12, 2011 by Phil Rafalko
By now anyone in Canada with a television set has seen Stephen Harper’s relentless assault on the Liberal campaign, particularly the identity of its leader Michael Ignatieff: “This election, a vote for the Liberals is a vote for Michael Ignatieff.”
A vote for the liberals is a vote for Michael Ignatieff – let us dissect this statement and its implications for just a moment.
So, the first things the Conservatives would like you to know is that Michael is not back in Canada for us, the Canadian people. Obviously, then, he’s here as a career-minded opportunist, contrary to Mr. Harper, who always puts the needs of all Canadians first. All that time spent in the United States must have seriously clouded his ability to judge fiscal matters in Canada, which is why the Conservatives are able to refute any and all of his points by replaying a single statement Ignatieff made in 2004 about “tax and spend” fiscal policy… Yes, that’s right – 2004; 3 federal elections ago, entirely out of date and out of context.[i]
Another point of note about Ignatieff, according to the Conservatives, is that he intends to lead a reckless coalition that jeopardizes the stability of our fragile, recovering economy.[ii] It’s a shame that the Conservative Party of Canada would use such blatantly misleading claims in their electoral platform, because it is clear that THERE IS NOT GOING TO BE A COALITION. Ignatieff said from the very beginning of this election that he does not intend on forming a coalition government, and none of the other major party leaders have given the suggestion any weight.[iii] But so be it. The longer we as Canadians stay divided in our convictions, the longer divisive political tactics in Ottawa will be the norm – far from the Canadian leadership that we are entitled to from our government – just what the Harper government wants.
Harper’s camp is trying to win the war of politics entirely on the field of rhetoric, and when it seems that the battle cannot be won, they simply slash and burn, just like the Soviets under threat of siege in World War II – all of these campaign resources coming from the taxpayers’ pockets! Not only are they doing everything they can to monitor media output of their brand, and keeping sincerely interested voters out of their rallies because they weren’t part [iv]… there’s even strife within their own ranks, as even senior Conservative members have had to bow out of Harper’s power consolidation over Parliament and beyond.[v]
The Liberals are running their own attack ads[vi] – at least they display things that actually happened, not simply flowery rhetoric. That said, it’s not enough to be the lesser of two evils. It’s not enough to ignore policy, and focus on negative imagery. Why do we want evil at all? The electorate in this country deserves a fair opportunity to be educated about what their government is doing with our time and money, and the big parties are not working to provide it. Amidst the fray of accusations, both of these parties dismiss other legitimate options by not even acknowledging them. The mass psychology of these ads is simple: don’t give attention to the smaller opponents, such that they don’t need be treated with the same degree of authority, and thus the democratic process is limited to two, not-so-different, parties (not far off from our neighbours to the south).
Our constitution is founded on the principle of “peace, order and good governance” – none of those things can be found in the Harper Government’s mandate: instead, we find more military spending, less government transparency and accountability, and no respect for the democratic processes and the diversity of our country. A Harper majority will do nothing to preserve our unifying Canadian values. Truly what they care about is not how they achieve power, but only that they are in power and you, the Canadian people, are not.
As we look ahead to the unravelling political campaigns, just remember: this election, a vote for the Conservatives is a vote for Stephen Harper. Sounds silly perhaps? That’s exactly the platform his government is running on.
Awsome work! Keep it up! God bless and all the best in this campaign:)