Campbell's Scoop: Red, Blue, Orange?

Hello All,

So, January 23rd is the date of note. Having just acquired my legal right to vote in this great country, I am proud to say that I have absolutely no idea who I'm going to vote for. At first I was pure liberal, then it was NDP, then it was Conservative and now, back to Liberals. Why all this back and forth? Well, several issues are on my mind.

The NDP: To be honest, I don't really know what they are about. They sure are left, which I like, but other then that I don't know anything about them. What do they stand for? More green, more health care, more social services, more money for public transport etc. Ok that is all good, but who's going to pay for these increases? More taxes? And also, aren't the Liberals already dealing a lot with the "leftist" ideals? Sure rock star Bono gave Paul Martin a tongue lashing but in my opinion, the Liberals are doing ok with their current "save the environment" tone. So really, I don't see why the NDP are around. So I asked myself why would I vote for them? Well simply put, to change things around and maybe teach the Liberals a lesson for their non-stop scandals.

The Conservatives: To start off, I can't stand Steven Harper's hair. I hate it even more than Jack Layton's moustache. As well, I don’t like this Peter McKay dude either, he’s “Mr. Arrogant” all over his face. I am not a conservative but really after hearing of ANOTHER possible insider trading scandal from the Liberals I really started thinking that maybe it is time for a change. Perhaps like the NDP, although I am everything against what the right wing stands for, I should vote conservative just to punish the Liberals. But then, just when I decide what I’m going to do, I see the other side. Quite frankly, the conservatives scare me. What I need to hear, is assurances that we will not become Bush’s puppet. Sure, people say that will never happen; that we are a sovereign nation but really, you can’t escape the fact that if we were under a conservative government right now, Canadians would be in Iraq, we’d have oil pipelines running through the Yukon, Kyoto would probably be finished and U2 would probably stop touring in Canada. So really, when I see conservative blue, I see republican red.

The Liberals: Ahh yes, the liberals. Paul Martin is a moron. He should have never FORCED Jean Chrétien out of the PMO. By doing this, it caused huge, if not publicly visible, in fighting in the party. Chrétien was just months away from resigning from his post anyway, why couldn’t Martin just wait and let normal leadership election happen? Because of his rushed ascent to power, other possible and maybe better candidates, namely John Manley and Brian Tobin, were forced out of the race early on. Backed by his “amazing” record as finance minister under the CHRETIEN era, Martin got into power. But isn’t it ironic that the moment he steps into power, money scandals appear from HIS time? And now, with the latest insider trading scandals, I’m actually starting to feel sorry for Martin. I mean, really, what does he have going for him? Tighter gun laws (btw, that stupid gun registration thing cost us over $2 billion so far…), banning rappers from entering Canada, trying to legalize pot, buying broken submarines from England, getting Belinda Stronach to switch parties and….wait for it…the big one…BASHING GEORGE BUSH!
OK I admit, Americans can be a pain sometimes but it’s sad when our PM has to bash another country to get support in his own. Don’t get me wrong, I totally agree with our stance on the war in Iraq but really, Martin must lose his Captain Canada image and show the real picture. Show me and the rest of Canada, why after being in power for 15 years, we should still vote for you? Give me a platform where I can really compare against the Conservatives.

Right now, Canadians, have no real choice. Canadian politics is a joke and none of the party leaders seem fit to run a country. We have one half of the country too scared to vote conservative when really change is needed, and we have the other side concentrating on getting out of Canada (and I don’t mean Quebec). So really, I am at a loss. What I would like to see are some more serious parties who all run on the same political lines of the current ones. This will definitely give us more options and perhaps bring this political monopoly to an end.

However, I must stress to all that read this, and are eligible to vote, please do go out there and vote. General consensus out there is that one vote won't really make a difference, but keep in mind that democracy won't work without your contribution so make sure you vote.