When we last left you, I was wondering whether or not the NDP's Orange Crush was going to be fact or fable. Well, we got our answer. Jack Layton and crew now pretty well own Quebec, at least on the federal front.
Those half-dozen university kids who suddenly found themselves real neat summer jobs as members of parliament for the next four years, at around $12,000 per month, won't be complaining, at least not right away.
As one political pundit suggested, this will be the best thing to ever happen to the NDP, or the worst thing that could happen to them. So much of the credibility factor will now fall on the shoulders of a big rookie team on the official opposition side of the Parliament. Do you think these new members will be able to leave the world of texting and tweeting long enough to learn the ropes and pay attention in the assembly? Do they need permission from their parents to stay out late if the session runs past 9 p.m.?
Jackie Layton has the fate of Quebec now riding on his shoulders and we all know how fickle Quebec can be. They are as fickle on the political spectrum as Saskatchewan is predictable.
The West stayed in the mix by once again declaring their commitment to Stevie Wonder, the Harper Boy. This time around they were joined by a few more in Eastern Canada. Just enough to give Stevie a majority.
Stevie and Jackie rock, Iggy and Gilles end up in the political dumpsters. Liz lucked it out in B.C. and all is well with the world, or at least the Canadian corner of the world. Iggy can return to academia from whence he came and Gilles can go back to ... well, whatever it was he was doing 30 years ago, before he decided to be a rabble rousing separatist.
The Harper boy can now have his way with stalled agenda items such as abolishing the long gun registry, or the short gun registry, or the medium length gun registry, whenever he chooses to give the edict to the troops who will be expected to follow directions to the letter. After all, that's why they were all elected. Expect some major hits on the CBC, expect the controlled demise of the CWB and forget about any reconsideration of the census forms and maybe we'll even get those revised lyrics to O' Canada while we're at it, just for laughs, I guess.
But I do hope the new majority team doesn't spend a whole lot of time on these supposed incidental matters.. The big ticket items are out there to be attacked first, we would hope. Things like flagging international awareness, those fighter jets that are going to cost us anywhere from $65 million to $65 billion, according to who you listen to.
We need to have our members take the national deficit and debt seriously this time around. We need to improve relations with the United States, we need to get a handle on runaway spending at some national agencies and we certainly need some kind of action on the environmental file before Canada becomes an international joke. Naturally our clean coal project can help lead the way, but we're not sure if they've noticed us yet. Maybe we'll see some action on this issue once the euphoria of the majority win drifts away and the stark reality of running a country as disparate as Canada is driven home.
For all of the political junkies out there, this is going to be a fun time.
