My Election View 2011

     In a few days it will be over and Canadians will have elected the players who will provide the drama we will refer to as the 41st parliament of Canada. Congratulations, Canadians have their day.

     It's an honour really. Many Canadians, mostly the youth of the nation, gave their lives to give you the opportunity to choose who you want to run your country, rather than be told who should run your country. The one day in our country when a homeless person has the same voice as a party leader, a CEO, or  billionaire. Your day of power, so don't forsake it, don't allow friends and family to forsake it. Don't just vote but do all you can to encourage everyone to vote, no matter how they intend to mark their ballot, it's just that important.

     I make no secret I chose to vote for the Liberal candidate in this particular election. I think they have a platform I can live with, one that changes the priorities to more of what I like about Canada. The idea we can help each other. I also know the liberal party not only created the conditions that allowed Canada to ride out the worst of a bad situation, the same minds that made Canada the envy of the world are still Liberals. I've also been impressed to learn of the intelligence, passion and committment of Michael Ignatieff. As a man it would be difficult to equal the amount of dignity he has handled himself with in the face of years of personal attacks, attacks on his family, his wife, his integrity. I've listened to a man who speaks, not from a teleprompter, not from notes, but from a sense of disgust at what Canada has become, and a sense of amazement that Canadians don't seem to realize that very slowly, quietly, the society we have always been so proud of is changing and by the time we open our eyes we will not even recognize ourselves in the mirror.

     As for Stephen Harper, what more can I say about this man. I, being engaged, knew enough about this man in 1995 I realized his ideology was very different, that he is a very shrewd and tightly controlled man who has a plan to remake Canada into a very different country. If you look at his pre-government record, what he has done since he came to power (not to mention how he came to power), and the unbelievably questionable people who populate the highest positions within his inner circle I find it very difficult to imagine a sensible person could support this man. One can argue the local candidate is a superhero, but in this conservative party he's lower than a nothing unless Stephen Harper says so. What he says goes. Cross this man and you will feel wrath you never imagined. He doesn't care if he ruins your credibility, your reputation, your family or your life depending on his level of hate at the time. He is unmistakably a man driven by his hate of everyone who would dare to oppose his views. The most vitriolic of his hate is directed toward his opposition. I've dealt with people like Stephen Harper in my professional life. They don't intimidate me. I have no problem staring them down or telling them exactly how much value I place on their opinion. No matter how much they'd love to think they are better than me, sadly for them, they're not. The small-minded, small-hearted of the world instill no fear in my heart. Garbage is garbage no matter what title they hold or how big their bank account is. No human is better than any other and too bad for Stephen Harper, the emporer has no clothes. You might scare others, to me you're a playground bully, a glorified punk. I'd had more than enough of you, Mr. Gotti wannabe, the teflon is gone, and now we know you have a fondness for fraud it's high time we kicked your ass to High River.

     Jack. Love ya. Hope you do very well. Every policy you have will need to be blunted, if you don't realize that you're not yet smart enough to be PM, but congrats, the NDP is getting there. I'm sorry you haven't concentrated your efforts more on what kind of government Harper has given us, especially right now when more people are listening to you. The election really is more important than whether you can relace liberals, it's about ridding ourselves of a very bad government. By the way, the credit card thing is false hope and not well thought out. Reality is, as PM you can still help people without punishing the market which hurts people's retirement savings. It's only a free ride until the scrutiny hits.

     I sincerely hope Elizabeth May gets a seat to add that refreshing voice. Unfortunately the name Green Party associates them with a fringe that got a bad name early in their history elsewhere and you could provide policies that would create utopia in the country and good luck getting a seat. Sorry, I just try to speak the truth. Whether the truth seems right or wrong it's still the truth.

     No matter what the outcome of this election, I made a promise to my 23 year old daughter. That once the election ends I will start working to drag our 19th century system into the future. No matter how many elections we have, no matter who we elect, we have structural problems with the way our democracy works and many changes need to be made so democracy becomes relevant to every citizen. I will be seeking all kinds of Canadians to work with me and will be inviting those who want a vision for their children's future to dialogue with me to create a firm vision of the Canada we want. My promise is for concrete change by 2019.

     In the meantime. My endorsement is, vote for your Liberal candidate for change we can realistically afford. NDP policies are good, but currently unattainable and the credit card thing may be cute but will cause havoc in financial markets where the medicine could end up far worse than the cure.

     As always, try to examine the big picture. Make up your own mind and vote. Please comment on my blog I appreciate all comments for and against.

     If you're interested in engagement you can follow me on twitter @bigpicguy or email me bigpicguy@hotmail.ca thanks for sharing a piece of my mind.