I have decided to finally give my thoughts on this pointless, stupid 2011 federal election.
That about sums up my opinion on this campaign in a nutshell. I don't know about you, but I'm sick and tired of having so many federal elections. I like elections, but four federal elections in seven years?
Not only that, but we've seen political attack ads all over the tube for weeks on end. They were even running them between elections! Now they're littering the hockey games I'm watching. I am sick of attack ads and sick of watching political people spew their party line on TV.
I think what summed up this campaign for me was when I happened to tune in to Evan Solomon's political show on CBC News Network during the campaign. They had their usual panel of self-absorbed political hacks ranting and raving over that leak of the Auditor General's report on the G8/G20 costs. I remember thinking these folks were too obnoxious and too into politics.
Then it hit me. This is exactly what is wrong in Ottawa. These political people there, not to mention the media, are so full of themselves and so absorbed in their own political cocoon that they fail to realize that these partisan squabbles aren't the most important thing in the world. There are people dying in Japan. People are being shot in Libya! There are people in Saskatchewan and Manitoba trying to avoid being flooded.
Yet these party hacks think it's more important to score their political talking points, play games in Parliament and hold countless elections until they finally get the exact result they want from it.
The problem essentially is that none of these parties in Ottawa seem willing to accept the verdict voters have handed down in two straight elections: they want the Conservatives in power and Stephen Harper as prime minister, but want the opposition to be able to hold them to account and perform checks and balances on them, and stop them if need be on certain unpopular legislation. They don't want the opposition running the government, but don't want Harper to have a majority.
The problem is none of the parties in Ottawa will accept this. The Conservatives clearly have never been happy with their minority government status, which has seen countless Tory bills blocked, stalled or otherwise frustrated.
The opposition parties, on the other hand, seem unwilling to accept the reality that the Conservatives are the government. They've been using opposition-controlled committees to roast and embarrass the Tories at every turn - and they go ballistic every time the Conservatives do something they disagree with.
The Tories may be the government, but it's the opposition calling the shots. It's a situation neither side is happy with.
The easy solution would be for these parties to put partisanship aside and make an effort at more compromises to get legislation passed. But clearly that is too simple a solution for the folks on the Hill. Instead, these parties keep on forcing elections, hoping to change the situation to one more favorable for their side.
In 2008, it was Stephen Harper who called the election hoping for, but not getting, his coveted majority. This year, it's the opposition parties who forced the election through a confidence vote. They say the government is in contempt of Parliament and that democracy and accountability needs to be restored to Ottawa. They say this election is about restoring democracy!
Based on the polls out there it's long odds that any opposition party will top the seat count next May 2. What I see happening next week is either a Conservative majority or minority coming back.
The problem is that neither of these to options is going to advance "democracy" and "accountability" one bit. If the Conservatives win their majority, you can bet they will spend the next four years doing whatever they want, with the opposition unable to do much to stop their legislation or hold them to account.
Get ready for four long years of opposition whining about Harper's "contempt for Parliament" if the Tories win a majority. The opposition ain't seen nothing yet.
The other prospect is that we return to Parliament with yet another minority Harper government, with the Tories with the most seats.
The problem is we'll be back to the exact same situation that resulted in the defeat of the government on that confidence motion of contempt. Plus, the other three parties opposed the budget.
There is a very real prospect another minority result could produce chaos, with the Conservatives losing confidence perhaps as soon as the House votes on the throne speech.
Speculation is rampant Michael Ignatieff, Jack Layton and Gilles Duceppe will then get together and try and do another "coalition" deal similar to what they attempted shortly after they lost the 2008 election.
We could have a situation where the three parties do a deal behind closed doors to take over the government. We could end up with the three losers of the election running the country! We may end up with Ignatieff as PM whether Canadians want him in or not!
So the party that could end up with the most votes and seats could end up getting the boot, not from voters but from opposition wheeling and dealing. Get ready for contempt of a different kind if this happens - contempt for the electorate.
Is it any wonder, then, that there is a sense of weariness out there for all the hijinks, drama and non-stop electioneering? Parliament promises to be a gong show again, regardless of which way Canadians vote.
People just want Parliament to work, and to work on their behalf. I don't know how many elections it's going to take for folks in Ottawa to get the message.
