Well, Canada, it鈥檚 time to decide.
In just a hair over a month, we are headed to the polls once again as we find ourselves in federal election season.
And we all know what that means, right?
It means what I think is right and what you think is wrong.聽 What my party of choice is going to do for Canada is FAR better than what your party of choice is going to do for Canada.
That鈥檚 the gist of it, really.聽 At least as far as the internet is concerned.
When it鈥檚 election season, you can bet your bottom dollar that social media is going to become even more of a toxic mud hole than it normally is as people on all sides of all political fences begin to square off.聽 It all comes off rather childish and immature, and to me, here鈥檚 what every political argument on social media sounds like:
"MY PARTY SAYS THEY'RE GONNA DO THINGS IN A SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT WAY TO ACHIEVE THE SAME GOALS WE ALL HAVE FOR CANADA IN THE END ANYWAY!"
That鈥檚 not my style.聽 You see, I鈥檓 what you call the 鈥榝ence rider鈥�.聽 I鈥檓 the Canadian citizen who holds no allegiance to any political party, and I dare to look at all the parties, their leaders and candidates objectively and with no bias.
Hmmm, I like what *this* party鈥檚 goals are and what *this* candidate says.聽 Oh, but here鈥檚 another important goal by this *other* party.聽 Wait, what did *that* candidate say about doing more for Canada鈥檚 veterans?
People on social media can鈥檛 stand people like me, the kind of person who can look at things objectively.聽 On Facebook and Twitter, especially during an election, people seem to almost demand that you pick a side because their insecurities take hold and they want to tear you and your beliefs down to make themselves feel superior.聽 These types of people can鈥檛 stand it when someone has unbiased views or chooses to look at the issues from both sides of the fence.
Instead, the attitude from far too many is, "Ugh, just tell me what your politics are so I know if I hate you!!!"
We as Canadians need to do a lot better in this department over the next few weeks before we all head to the ballot boxes.聽 With that in mind, I鈥檝e come up with a few things I hope to see on the road to the polls in what I鈥檒l call my 鈥楩ederal Election Wish List鈥�.
I wish for one of the future televised leader debates to address the many issues facing me and my fellow citizens here on the Prairies.聽 Last week鈥檚 first debate seemed to exhaust what鈥檚 going on in Eastern Canada and out on the West Coast in British Columbia, but apparently, we on the Prairies of Saskatchewan, Alberta and Manitoba didn鈥檛 make the cut.
I wish for the tired Stephen Harper references to end.聽 For whatever reason, a former Prime Minister is living entirely rent-free in the heads of the Liberals, the NDP and the Green Party.聽 What these candidates fail to remember is that he isn鈥檛 the guy they鈥檙e running against, and they鈥檙e doing themselves a disservice by constantly playing the 鈥楬arper Card鈥� when they could be informing would-be voters about their platforms.聽 Canadians see through scare tactics more than politicians believe.
I wish for people to get to know their candidates in their own ridings.聽 My buddy Shawn from Nanaimo made a great point about this on my Facebook page last week.聽 He shared how he personally knows his federal candidate, the Green Party鈥檚 Paul Manley.聽 He describes Paul as 小蓝视频 engaged with his riding, a fantastic example of what an 小蓝视频 should be, and Shawn likes what his plans are moving forward.聽 I like that.
I wish for all these ridiculous fear-mongering tactics by separatist groups to take a hike.聽 I see it all the time.聽 鈥淚f the election doesn鈥檛 go our way, we say break off from the East and become the Western Republic of Canada!鈥澛� Seriously, this is the kind of immaturity and narrow-mindedness that elections bring about.聽 You鈥檙e literally saying that if you don鈥檛 get your way, you鈥檙e going to pick up your ball and go home.聽 I don鈥檛 want to break up our country, and I don鈥檛 want to live in some bastardized version of it either.
I wish for people to simply GET OUT AND VOTE!聽 We need to pump up those numbers, man!聽 It鈥檚 your right as a living, breathing, Canadian citizen.聽 Do your research.聽 Decide what鈥檚 best for you and your loved ones.聽 Vote on the kind of Canada that fits both your needs and your desires.聽 Many people before us didn鈥檛 have the right to vote, so it鈥檚 your responsibility to exercise that right.
I鈥檓 not sure if I鈥檒l get everything I want out of this list, but hey, it鈥檚 a 鈥榳ish鈥� list for a reason.
For this week, that鈥檚 been the Ruttle Report.
