Some days the Sun Just Does Not Shine

There have been a few days in my life when I have thought about being a politician. Fortunately, these minor twinges/urges for fame have quickly evaporated as I thought about how much work it would be, how fragile my ego can be and most importantly how poorly I suffer fools. Even less often, I feel sorry for those folks who have made the decision to be a politician. I admire many of them, if not for their wisdom and ability to see the world through a critical lens, at least because they have made a commitment to do something. I frequently disagree with most of them, but I do appreciate the fact that the majority of our elected representatives are probably doing the best they can, most of the time. However, right now, I am feeling just a little bit sorry for Justin Trudeau. I think for the next two or so years (or however long his government lasts) he will never please even half of the people half of the time.

The Conservatives across the country are setting up a situation where the new federal government can not meet their expectations. If Trudeau did attempt to meet their demands:

1) there would be no carbon tax and in fact, no clear plan to halt what appears to be the world's slide into permanent weather crisis

2) somehow pipelines would be built across the country - even when the people living there do not want them

3) corporations, especially those who are in the business of exploiting our natural resources will continue to get tax breaks with no expectations of investing their profits to Canada

At the same time, 60% of Canadians who voted for a party that had, at least on paper, a commitment to dealing with climate change would be ignored.

The other alternative would be for the government to pursue its' climate change agenda (as poor as it is) including imposing a carbon tax on those provinces that refuse to do anything and not being any more supportive than it already is to resource extraction companies. That might marginally satisfy some of the people in Canada.

So either the new government will be blamed for lost jobs in the resource sector regardless of why - thereby proving that the Liberals do not care about the west or they will do what the Conservative leadership is demanding of them and prove to everyone else that the government does not care about our children and grandchildren. If I were Trudeau, I think I might consider going back to teaching in a private boy's school.

There is, of course, a third alternative. Trudeau could accept the fact that he was not going to get elected again. He could do some things that might displease some people much of the time. He could deliver on his implied promise of four years ago. With the support of the NDP, there is so much that we could do including creating, in the west, whole industries devoted to producing alternative technologies or we could develop and implement a health care system that would reach all Canadians and that would ensure adequate access to medications; we provide accessible and affordable homes to people who need them and we could finally get out from the continuing burden of paying for extensive legal battles with the First Nations by just doing what is right immediately.

I may be being naive, but I think that if Trudeau (and his party) could have the courage to do what was needed, without worrying about being elected next time - people might be a lot happier with him than he would have thought.