Put Down Your (Political) Swords

It’s been a few weeks since the longest election campaign in Canadian history ended. While it left me burnt out and disappointed, given my MP (Peggy Nash) was defeated along with every NDP MP in Toronto and Atlantic Canada, it also means no more elections until 2018. This is a good opportunity to focus away from politics (except for cycling matters, of course) and get myself back in order. Since I will have to work with a Liberal MP now, let’s get some first impressions of the new Liberal government.

When Fear Hijacks Campaigns

When former NDP leader Jack Layton passed away on August 22, 2011, his final words became legend and transcended partisan lines. He called on Canadians to embrace love, hope, and optimism instead of anger, fear, and despair. Fast forward to 2015 and it appears Canadians have forgotten this message, thanks to fear hijacking the current election campaign. Honestly, what happened to this country’s political discourse? It can be attributed to a headdress worn by Muslim women called the niqab.

Defining True Progressives

After almost ten years in power, the biggest question of this fall’s election is which party represents the true progressive alternative to Prime Minister Stephen Harper. This resulted in the nastiest campaign to date in which political party leaders are calling each other out on their promises and determining what is true can be difficult. Even within parties, loyalties are being tested such as disgraced Conservative Senator Patrick Brazeau calling for Harper’s defeat[1], Liberals leaving the party over anti-terror Bill C-51, and New Democrats criticizing leader Tom Mulcair’s positions on issues such as pipelines and Palestine.[2] For this blog post, I will discuss past Liberal and NDP records, as well as certain key campaign promises and accusations.

Lessons from Bill C-51

Last week, the final vote on the Harper government’s so-called “Anti-Terror” Bill C-51 passed in the House of Commons with Liberal support. The bill has now been sent to the Senate for debate prior to receiving royal assent. During the three months between the bill’s introduction and this moment, there have been several twists and turns which reveal three important lessons for Canadian politics.

Becoming Someone They Were Fighting Against

At one point does someone who constantly fought against a negative image becomes that very image? This description applies to Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper. While in opposition before the 2006 election, he called out the Liberals under Jean Chrétien and Paul Martin for scandals involving the federal sponsorship program. He campaigned on transparency and accountability, which lead him to introduce the Accountability Act and the office of the Parliamentary Budget Officer soon after taking office. Given these measures, one may think Harper would be on his way to cleaning up Ottawa.