Fog on the river.
Surprise surprise. I guess I will be voting in the election afterall. My voter's registration card came in the mail. I suspect this has to do with me requalifying for medicare, but I had expected (hoped) to be ineligible and therefore not have to make the party choice. Now it looks like I will have to make that decision... if indeed I don't just voluntarily stay home or spoil my ballot in rebellion.
The whole election is wretched. The Liberals have spun a majority into a situation where the only region they can count on getting seats may be Atlantic Canada. I've heard it predicted that they might only get a dozen seats in Quebec (out of seventy or so, the remainder of which are anticipated to go to the Bloc).
Canada AM was covering Ontario voters this morning and released a poll saying the Liberals had a 1% lead in support (Grits 32%, Tories 31%, NDP 16%, Green 7%).
Military spending is one of my key concerns so it leaves me uncertain. The Tories are planning on shelling out cash to buy the Forces new equipment BUT their alignment with Washington's policies will require a much larger and better-equipped military than they'll be able to muster for the money.
The Liberal mudslinging is really bugging me. How necessary is it? Everyone is well aware of Harper's agenda. Calling attention to it so often and in such childish ways diminishes it. Please! Cabinet ministers crashing speeches? That interview this morning lasted less than 10 seconds before the Liberal candidate started raking muck. The Tory and the NDP'er, on the other hand, kept quite calm. Too calm, really. The Conservative candidates have a smugness about them when Liberals waste all their time on name calling and don't bother to wait for replies. The Tories seem to know that if they keep their mouths shut on how they really plan to handle things, the Liberals will go on and on, digging their own graves.
The Liberal platform (except for the wind power idea they ripped off from the NDP) is all old news and lacks clear definition. The Tories at least seem to have a plan. Sure, their plan involves selling us off to the yanks... but at least they have a plan.
Vote NDP you say? Now that the Liberals are talking about legalizing marijuana, that kind of takes the fun out of going pink, doesn't it?
Here's a good link:
The 2004 PoliticsWatch.com VoteSelector Quiz. It's a useful quiz to help evaluate which political platform meshes most closely with your own beliefs. The only shortfall is that it doesn't take corruption into consideration-- nor is there a question about whether you strongly support, somewhat support, somewhat object to, or strongly object to becoming the 51st state.
