Election #7

Tomorrow the federal election campaign of 2019 will be over. - thank heavens! By almost any definition one could imagine the whole process has been a dismal failure. Policy has not been discussed in any real detail, debate has been defined as saying "I am right and you are wrong", social media's various bots and trolls have had a good time keeping the pot stirred with innuendo, misinformation and outright lies and at least according to some polls the two main parties are about where they were when they started.

I do not have a clue what this election has cost the Canadian public both in terms of Election Canada and the expenditures of the various parties. But I have to believe that there is a better use of the millions of dollars spent to be at the same spot as when we started. To be fair, the next Parliament will look significantly different than the last. No party will have an overwhelming majority that would allow them to ride roughshod over the House of Commons. In fact, it appears at least likely that whoever is asked to form the government will be able to do so only if at least one other party agrees to support them - which is always a tricky proposition. But because there has not been a real discussion as to what needs to happen in the next four years - for example, what to do about climate change or how to transition to a greener economy or how to manage our continuingly increasing health care costs, any changes that occur in the next few months regardless of who gets elected, will not be because of any type of collective consensus. The party will argue that we knew where they stood before we elected them - but how could we when none of the parties ever engage in a real discussion?

As the electoral process continues to devolve into a morass of poorly defined visions, petty accusations of the opposition's morality, deliberate attempts to deceive the electorate and a general inability to listen - the public is facing the ever increasingly difficult task of picking the party who is the least unattractive.

There is some good news - sort of. While the Green party will not win a significant number of seats, they have done their job by constantly reminding us that we do need to do something about the environment. It would be nice if they picked up a couple of new seats - perhaps one or two on Vancouver Island and maybe a few on the East Coast. As smart as Elizabeth May may be, I do not think she will be the kingmaker she dreams of being.

The NDP who from all polls before the election was called had nowhere to go but up. They have done exactly that. Jagmeet Singh has pleasantly surprised people with his capacity to connect with people in various communities. The NDP won't do exceptionally well in central Canada. They are likely to lose seats in Quebec, but they may pick up a few in BC, Northern Ontario and maybe in the Maritimes. What is particularly exciting is not the number of seats they will win, but rather the proof that some Canadians at least are very comfortable supporting a party whose leader wears a turban. Maybe there is hope for us after all.

It would be nice to believe that with both May and Singh demonstrating the capacity to engage in gentler and perhaps more rational discussions, that our next parliament will exhibit those traits.
For an older person - I am still surprised at my naivety.