With an election almost certainly slated for October 14th, national news will no doubt start to focus on the campaigns. I expect to see a number of things brought to the forefront of our attention.
I would expect that we will no doubt hear about increased funding for the military and other security-related concerns. Our current commitment in Afghanistan will no doubt be debated again. I may write of that further when the debate rages, but in short, I believe history proves that we will be in Afghanistan until we lose the will to continue fighting, not the other way around. Also, I wouldn’t be surprised to hear about terrorism again, and the pressing need to expand CSIS and the CSEs roll in protecting us.
The current listeriosis outbreak will no doubt be brought up at least in passing, as it has all the potential to turn into a talking point the likes of Walkerton. Government involvement in food inspection will be debated, as the administration HAD planned to offload this responsibility to the industries themselves.
It wouldn’t be surprising to hear about Global Warming, our commitments to Kyoto, and efforts to be “green”. While most high level leaders only have a passing knowledge of the environment, it is the latest fashion, so I would expect to hear about it. The usual topics will be discussed – renewable energy, the need to look at the wisdom of expanding our oil industry, carbon taxes, and so on. If we’re lucky, we may see an increased commitment to infrastructure improvements and public transportation.
There may be talk about restructuring equalization payments between the provinces, as Ontario is now a “have not” province in a full blown recession instead of the usual “have” status. I wouldn’t expect to see very much press on this, as I think everyone involved might want to keep the status quo quiet, so not to rile up the masses.
Do I expect it to be an exciting campaign? Probably not. The Canadian public seems apathetic, and hasn’t been discussing how eager it is to head to the polls. Both the leadership and the opposition have not presented a valid case as to why we need a vote at this time. I would suspect that if a majority government gets in, it will be by a very slim margin.
By the way – The new CBC Radio Two content is nearly indistinguishable from the cultural pop played on Radio One. Excellent decision making on their part (/scarcasm). On a brighter note, at least The Signal didn't get cancelled, so at least I can get my fix of techno/ambient music in the evenings.
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2 comments:
I'm going to have to take issue with you saying that neither the opposition nor the government have made the case for an election. In this case, Harper's the one dropping the writ...the onus of proof is on him. Politically, it makes sense...conditions are good for him right now, and he'll likely come out of this sitting pretty. It's not a good reason, but if I were him, I'd probably do the same.
Andrew, your points are very sound – in fact, I saw Mr. Harper’s reasoning before writing my post. With a looming recession, conservative politics stand to come out on top, and Mr. Dion’s leadership is less than stellar, admitted even by the Liberal party itself. My statement that they haven’t shown a reason for an election is because neither side has really reached an impasse on an issue that the public even cares about, hence the lack of press in the spring and summer leading up to this. As a people, we aren’t angry enough yet. I complain because Mr. Harper is breaking his own stated promise of fixed election cycles. While it may be the Prime Minister’s right to call an election if he so pleases, he made a promise to the public to govern until October 19th next year. Governments that are turning over every few years aren’t accomplishing anything except the setup and shutdown phase. Our minority governments have been like buying fix-er-up cars that have the potential to be great, say an old and downtrodden Corvette, putting one tank of gas in them, then selling them at a loss because they were running rough. But really, I overreact - the abandonment of the election date is merely yet another broken campaign promise.
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