Election Blues

Is this duck a Liberal or a Conservative. Living in a Fraser Valley park, he is probably Conservative.  

Being very political by nature, I am proud of myself that I have waited this long to post a political piece on our up-coming election here in Canada. This could be a 'rant', but it is more an observation as a result of the debate over the debate. Who should and should not participate, and how can we make the debate more meaningful?

It seems that Elizabeth May of the Green Party might be shut out of the debate. I agree with this position because she has no sitting members representing her party. She herself cannot even get elected. She should not be allowed to muddy the already murky waters of a debate that will end up with everybody attacking the Prime Minister.

As for Mr. Duceppe, he should not be allowed in the debate either, and for several reasons. His is not a national party, but only a regional one. I cannot vote for him even if I wanted to because he is only running candidates in the Province of Quebec. He should be allowed to take part in the French language debate only, as that is the one that all of Quebec will be paying attention to.

Another point is that if there is really going to be a coalition against the Conservatives, like Mr. Harper claims, then the debate should only be between Mr Harper and a representative of that coalition. Mr. Harper has challenged Mr. Iggy to a one on one debate and I think it is fitting. Mr. Iggy has risen to the challenge and accepted.

It will be a curious turn of events if this indeed does happen. 

If it does, I would like to see a true debate. Political election debates in this country tend to be arguments and opportunities to announce platforms. I would suggest a rule for the debate. No talk about platforms. Ideas will be debated and that is all. Too few people in Canada understand the philosophical differences between the parties and this could be a real education. Topics such as economic philosophy, social engineering philosophy, military and world leadership philosophy, health care and education philosophy should be debated. When we understand the philosophy of a party and its leader, we know what kind of direction the country will head if we elect him and his party. I never could understand how voters could say that they usually vote for one party, but this time they are voting for the other party. What!? Did their personal philosophy and world view change? Anyway, I doubt this would fly as we are into an adversarial type of political scene as evidenced by the shenanigans in the House of Parliament on a daily basis. I can only hope that one day, politics will take the high road in this country. It could start with a true debate.