Wandering further afield – Pre-Election thoughts
It is a day to go until election day and I’d thought I’d share a few thoughts about this 2025 Federal Election. This election has been interesting and not what I expected three months ago.
I, like many Canadians, expected that Justin Trudeau would challenge this election. I expected that his perceived ego and hubris would not allow him to quit while he was ahead – let alone quit while he’s behind. Like many who gamble when the chips are down – Trudeau the Younger always seemed to me like the guy who’d roll the dice hoping for one last big win to fix all the wrongs and get out of the hole.
Instead, Trudeau stuck a fork in himself and declared himself done. Once he said “I quit” I expected Mark Carney would seek to replace him. But I also expected Carney to fail in this campaign – he hasn’t.
I knew Trump’s ascendancy to the Oval Office would be an unmitigated disaster, I did not expect that disaster to appear this fast, or do so much damage. One benefit of Trump though is the rise in real Canadian Patriotism.
When I write Canadian Patriotism, I write of Canadians being protective of their country and rallying against a foreign attacker (Trump). I do not mean a bunch of trucker convoy hooligans blocking streets, flying “Fuck Trudeau” flags and wrapping themselves in the Canadian flag claiming faux patriotism. Trump’s presidency has really helped Canada define being Canadian as meaning “Not American.”
Still I am shocked by the issues on the Conservative campaign. How do you not have a plan B for the slim event that Trudeau was not running? How does your campaign not start planning for a new campaign strategy in the two months it took to install a new Liberal leader? What lapse of judgment and leadership is there within the CPC brain trust to think all they had to do was start name-calling Mark Carney and paint him with the same brush as Trudeau to make him the enemy? Whoops! I am sorry, was that Canada that’s broken, or just the CPC leadership?
We don’t know what the results of the election will be. Pollsters are fomenting at a Liberal majority, or a Liberal minority government. Conservatives are hoping for at least a minority government. The NDP are hoping for official party status. The Green Party is hoping for at least one of their two leaders to win their seats – how exactly does two party leaders work? Some days I think a party having one leader is one leader too much! I hope the election wipes the People’s Party and Bloc Québècois out. Even Quebecers want Canada to stay out of the US – That says something.
I wonder, if the CPC MPs who orchestrated the dumping of Erin O’Toole as leader are regretting that caucus coup-d'état now. Seriously, how do you blow a 20-plus point lead in the polls?
Who do I want to see win government – democracy. Unfortunately, we do not have a better voting system, and still adhere to the archaic first-past-the-post voting system. In an ideal world, we would have mixed-member proportional representation with some MPs elected locally in ridings, and some based on a percentage of the party vote. Add into that a ranked ballot, and I’d be happy. I’d also be happy with being able to elect our own head of state, not the British monarchy.
Who will win Monday night – no one. If voters give Carney a majority government, its a reward of the last 10 years of Liberals. Yes Carney will govern differently, but it’s still the same party. And if Poilievre wins, we get at least two years of re-writing the last 10 years, “reversing the damage” or just blowing up the previous government’s initiatives.
To be clear, I don’t trust any of the leaders or platforms because many politicians will do and say what they need to win.
What I’d like to see before the next election, some election reforms. Yes MMP, but also that before an election is called, parties are given one week to release their fully-costed party platforms. None of this releasing platforms after early voting concludes. If your party want to lead the country, they can get their shit together early enough.
On Monday, go vote. Vote for who you like.