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Talk of a fall election is becoming louder
as the lazy days of summer move into autumn. But whether it will
solve the impasse, of the Conservative minority government is
unlikely as none of the main parties seem to be offering anything
new to their electorate.
Stephane Dion’s “Green
Shift” might play well to those in Eastern Canada but it will
only serve to further alienate Westerners who already hold the
federal Liberals in low regard.
Jack Layton’s platform is as
predicable as it is dull and offers little more than criticism of
the other two major party’s platform while providing nothing
for the working men and women it based its founding principles
on.
Gilles Duceppe’s separatist party
will take the majority of seats in Quebec as the Liberals and
Conservatives continue to wallow in the mess they both helped to
create in allowing the Bloc Quebecois to stymie parliament by not
offing a palpable alternative.
The Conservatives will unlikely be able to
bring in a majority of seats as their policies continue to be
regarded as socially regressive to a large block of Canadians and
the continuing revelations of their campaign financing practices
takes the polish off this “clean” government.
Another election might see some seats
shift but nothing has really changed since the last time the writ
was dropped.
Each parties stance on the war in
Afghanistan won’t change, promises of less taxation and more
services will be made and allegations of dirty politics will
abound.
The leaders of the three main national
parties pale in comparison to personalities such as Pierre Trudeau,
Ed Broadbent and Brian Mulroney who – love them or hate them
– brought the public into the wider political discourse.
In today’s world of controlled and
filtered information, the only good thing that will come from an
election is the chance that a new party leader will emerge from the
ashes of a failed campaign.
Hopefully someone with heart, gumption,
character and a person who can truly represent and unify all
Canadians.
Alex McCuaig is a reporter at the Medicine
Hat News. He can be reached at
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