Get ready for an election Canada, our next one is just over the horizon.
Ever since Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff told the public his party wouldn't vote in favour of a budget that included corporate tax cuts and fighter jets, the top two political parties have been jockeying for their next election hook.
The Grits want to know if you're better off than you were when the Liberals were last in power. The Tories want you to think Iggy is a patriotic American who doesn't care about Canada. The NDP is quietly figuring out if they will be in favour of the budget. I haven't heard the Greens say boo; they don't have the funding to campaign outside of election season. And the Bloc is the federal party that doesn't exist outside Quebec, so during the election it doesn't matter what they think.
The threat of a spring election has given rise to the worst of all the many political tools: the attack ad.
I find elections are never a sure bet to happen until these attacks start bombarding the airwaves, and they have. Attack ads often have an ominous voice spouting doom and gloom in the name of the opposition party. The country falling to shambles in the arms of the opposition is the predictable theme.
Parliament comes back from its extended vacation next week, then in March expect the budget to get shot down by all those who can oppose.
Iggy is going to be attacked by the Tories, and the Liberals will have to attack everybody. If they want seats they aren't going to be able to simply steal from the Conservatives' well. The political spectrum in our nation has a right-wing party and then several parties who bump elbows at varying degrees on the left side.
Some Conservative voters change their stripes, but the voters who jump from party to party the most are those that can't decide which party on the left is right for them. Each party has its own base, but those who don't belong to a party will be the ones the Liberals have to unite under their red flag if they will see any success.
Truthfully, it's only if they can do that, that this election will even be worth it. Right now it's expected the next government will be a Conservative minority, the same as the current one give or take a few seats. So why bother? With that result, we might as well just wait until next year to re-elect our Conservative minority. That result is feeling unfortunately inevitable at the moment.
The last election had terrible voter turnout. It's tough to see those numbers improving much if the election goes ahead this spring. Public opinion is very similar to the fall of 2008. Canada just does not want to vote. When people don't vote, expect the leadership to remain the same. The boat only gets rocked when people decide they are fed up and decide to vote for a change.
There looks to be two outcomes, either a Liberal or Conservative minority. I don't like the sound of either. I'll probably have to sit through another couple of months of political attacks no matter how much I don't want to. It's not easy getting what you want when it comes to politics; the leaders of the country have only disappointment to hand out.
