Political Ramblings

I have a thank-you post coming soon to an anonymous Internet friend who has sent me an amazing gift. I just want to ask her first if she wishes to stay anonymous or if I can thank her publicly.

Let's talk about the upcoming Canadian election for a moment.

It amazes me that the average Canadian seems content to base their opinions on the marketing strategies of advertising agencies.

PEOPLE, you cannot believe what you see on television.

No matter what your political persuasion is, television ads are meant to appeal to a particular group of people on a specific issue. It is sugar coated at best, and an abomination of the truth at the worst.

And you especially can't believe message about one party from another party. Of course they are not being objective, and yes they are allowed to say that on television even if it isn't true. Come on folks. We only have elections every four years (or we would if we would stop electing minority governments). Is it too much to ask to read their platforms, to listen to leadership debates, to attend a few local meetings for 4 weeks once every 4 years.

Steven Harper is running a great marketing campaign. But do you know what he stands for? Do you know what he will do if he gets elected? You've heard that he is a strong leader but do you know where he would lead our country if he had a majority. You know he can wear a sweater and talk about his children to try to appeal to women (a highly influential and coveted voter contingent) and you know that he can bash Dion and his policies. But what about his own policies? What are they? What is his plan to reverse climate change? How does he plan to protect our economy for the recession of our neighbours? How concerned is he about the massive loss of manufacturing jobs in Ontario and what will he do about it?

Stephane Dion is criticized for a carbon tax that will allegedly cost the average person money. But have you read the plan to find out what it's all about. Do you know how it is supposed to help the environment? Did you know that he also has a plan to reduce personal income taxes so that the carbon tax would be cost neutral but could save you money if you found alternatives to fossil fuels.

You can read all about the green shift here

http://www.thegreenshift.ca/default_e.aspx

there is even a calculator that will tell you what your income tax savings would be under the plan. There is a plan for economic development that is not getting much media coverage.

I am a liberal. In previous elections I have been actively involved in campaigning. This year, with everything we have been through, I just don't have the emotional energy to get that involved. I really don't care how people vote as long as they are making informed choices.

But please, we live in a great nation. A nation that is prospering and full of resources and gifts. And because of that, we have the ability to be apathetic. The ability to watch tv ads and think we are informed. In other countries, societies with much lower literacy rates, people don't have the choice to be so blaize. They have to make informed decisions or their lives could be seriously impacted.

Four years is a long time. We can go from a surplus to deficit in 4 years. We can go from reducing our emissions to increasing them in 4 years. We can go from a lack of family doctors and long wait times to an abysmal health care system. We can go from a stable economy to a rescission is much less than 4 years. And the job loss, well in my small part of the world alone there has been thousands of manufacturing jobs lost in the last 4 years, think about what that could do to the local economy if they aren't regained let alone if we lost more.

Think about it. That's all I'm saying. Think about it, read about it, and make an informed vote.