What has developed in the House of Commons in the last week or so is nothing short of amazing.
As for my thoughts on this "three-party coalition" set to topple the Harper government, I am unsure of what is the best alternative. It is clear to me that the democratic process in the House will be roadblocked until a majority is elected -- which could be 2 3, or 4 elections from now -- nobody knows. The Liberals, the Bloc, and the NDP are thwarting to usurp the conservative party by 'joining forces' with one another -- these three parties in the past couldn't agree on a single thing. Even if they manage to obtain power in the house, infighting between the parties will ensure the 40th Parliament will be dead -- and we will be heading to the polls sooner, rather than later -- like the 2011 date proposed by the coalition.
This whole mess has left Canadians enraged, while our Governor General is decidedly out of the country. At least Her Excellency returns tomorrow to deal with the crisis. Sadly, come Monday, she's going to have to make a difficult choice: either accept the three-party coalition as the governing party, or dissolve Parliament and we head into another election campaign -- the second in almost as many months.
Following this story, I have read hundreds of comments from enraged Canadians, and many of them spouting nonsense, which, more or less, is why I felt compelled to write about this subject. Here are two of the most idiotic statements I have read -- and my editorial as to why these are so ridiculous.
Quote #1 (paraphrased): What's been happening this week in the House of Commons is appalling. The Members of Parliament are acting like kids in a schoolyard. We should send them another message as disgruntled citizens by NOT voting in the next election.This is utter madness. The reason why we have this lousy excuse for a government this term is because of voter apathy -- the lowest voter turnout in Canadian history! If you vote or don't vote, the end result is the same: the votes are counted, and the ones with the most votes win. How is not voting going to make a difference? That's like trying to instigate Revolution by taking a nap. Now, sending a message by spoiling your ballot is a little more effective in a sense that you are at least sending a message. The end result is the same though -- the person with the most votes still wins.
Quote #2 (paraphrased): 60% of the population didn't vote for Harper. That means 60% of the population will be happy to see someone else in power. So the three-party coalition is probably a good thing.Oooh, this one is a doozy. Don't get me started about "voting for Harper" -- under 1% of Canada's population voted for Harper -- only the majority those who reside in his riding did. We vote for a Member of Parliament. The person elected Prime Minister is most often the leader of the party with the most seats. But I digress -- this wasn't what I was getting at anyway.
Instead, let's replace "Harper" with "Conservative" in quote number two. While it is true that the Conservatives received only 40 percent of the vote, The Liberals, New Democrats, the Bloc, and the fringe parties received even less; if you sum them together you get something like 60 percent.
Whoever wrote quote number 2 above obviously thinks his/her world is black and white. The only way 60% of the population would be happy about Harper's government being toppled is if -- and only if -- 60 percent of all voters marked an X beside the checkbox that read: "Anyone but Harper" on their ballot. Last I checked, that option was not on my ballot -- or anyone else's.
So if you let Stephane Dion become Prime Minister, do you think 60-percent of the population is going to be happy about it? Absolutely not. Maybe 20 percent of the population will be happy about it -- those who are privy to Liberal ideology. And if Gilles Duceppe became the appointed Prime Minister (it would never happen anyway) would that mean that everyone in Quebec would be happy? Absolutely not. In fact, I would expect there are a number of people who voted conservative -- even though they don't like having Harper as the party leader. We can't do anything about that as citizens. Our duty is to elect the representative who will best serve our interests in Parliament. To vote by ideology -- or along party lines -- something I see way too often in Conservative Alberta -- I consider to be dangerous. I've seen so many unqualified, egomaniac, socially corrupt, power hungry, and greedy folk get elected because they ran for the "right party" -- it makes me question the intelligence of the public. But hey, that's why we love democracy: at least we had our say.
Now even though these "quotes" aren't verbatim, they are representative of a number of comments on news-stories published all over the web. Seriously. Go have a look, anywhere, and you'll see what I mean.
