Canadians went to the polls just two years after they went to the polls and elected the Stephen Harper led Conservative Party who formed a minority government. I still really don’t get why there was another election in the first place. This time Canadians again elected the Stephen Harper led Conservative Party and yet again Canadians had to witness a minority government. So the question on every Canadian’s (or at least some Canadians like me) mind was, “What was really the point of this election?”.
This time was the first time I voted. Last time around, I had a chance but didn‚Äôt vote, but I thought this time I should; it is my right and I must exercise my right and also because you know what they say, “Every vote counts”.
I didn‚Äôt want to vote for the Liberals because I really doubted Dion‚Äôs capabilities as a leader and to be honest the Liberals were all over the place with their campaign, and what‚Äôs up with the carbon tax? Dion doesn‚Äôt really look or sounds like a prime minister, Harper looks like a crook (joke, please don’t take that seriously; I didn‚Äôt quite buy all their policies), and Duceppe (leader of the Quebec Bloc) is a separatist. Jack Layton, the leader of the NDP was the only guy who seemed consistent and well,‚Ķ the only other party left. Although, there is also the Green party, if anyone even wants to consider them a real political party. In times like this when the country is facing a recession, making the environment our first priority isn‚Äôt really a very smart thing to do, and thankfully Canadians realize that and it is evident from the fact that not even one member of the Green party got elected. Don‚Äôt get me wrong! I am all for the environment, I try the little things that I can to make a difference, but looking at the current economic situation, the environment can wait.
So now the new government is sworn in and Canada again witnesses Harper Led Conservative minority government.
Stephen Harper faces a tough challenge with the receding economy and 1000‚Äôs or job losses across Canada. What does he do? He proposes to do something, but nothing which would throw in life jackets for the sinking economy like some sort of an economic stimulus package. Instead, what the Conservatives propose is to sell off crown assets, and on top of that, they wanted to cut back on government funding for political parties, which was their way of showing that “Hey, we know that Canadians are feeling the pinch and we want to show that we understand so we‚Äôre going to tone down our piggy bank (a very large piggy bank)”. But what does that do for the economy? Nothing!
This is just like that ridiculous tax reduction that Harper put in place the last time he was elected prime minister. Are Canadians really buying this non-sense? An average Canadian does not buy a house or a car every month or buy expensive things or buy things in large quantities. It’s only the rich ones that will be really benefiting from this tax reduction. The average Canadian hardly saves enough to make any difference in their bank balance or life style. And just to remind my readers that there is no tax on basic items anyway! This only reduced millions of dollars in revenue for the government without affecting the middle class and low income Canadian households in a positive way.
Oh and I am not done yet. Stay tuned for more!