On a long weekend in the middle of summer, you should not have to deal with tough questions. You should be lazing by the lake with a suitable cold libation. You should be enjoying the laughter of children, the quiet tones of good conversation and the whisper of a cooling breeze through the trees. Politics can be an intrusion.
But you hardly expected Stephen Harper to give a damn about you, did you? In the words of the television advertising that has now been stopped: “You cannot expect him to be there for you.” He is too self-centred and controlling to give anyone a break. He has his own agenda. You can like it or lump it.
And besides, it is to Mr. Harper’s advantage to start the official campaign early. He has lots of money from the rich to spend. He can outspend all his opponents combined under the election rules, he helped create. He can bully the news media, he can bully the people trying to arrange television debates and, he thinks, he can bully Canadian voters. And that is where he has to be proved wrong.
Bullies can dish it out but they are basically cowards and cannot handle derision. One of the reasons for calling the election early is to stop campaigns such as “Not there for you.” If these people got any momentum going it would not be good for the Conservatives. Those ads are not legal now.
Canadians should also have every right to expect honest and fair television debates that everyone can view and in both Canada’s official languages. If Mr. Harper refuses to come to the event, you leave his chair open and carry on. And if Tommy Mulcair refuses to come without Mr. Harper there, he needs to be asked why he is afraid of debating Justin Trudeau?
Canadians are frankly tired of the hypocrisy of politicians who say one thing at election time and something different in office. They are also tired of politicians who bully and lie and act as though nothing is wrong. Voters cannot solve these problems by staying home on election day. It is time for us to stand up against the bullies and liars and vote for better government.
And if anyone asks you how long should an election be, you can use a version of the answer Abraham Lincoln gave to the person who asked him how long should a person’s legs be? Lincoln told him “Long enough to reach the ground.”
How long should an election be? Long enough to change the government.
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A note for our loyal readers: Since there is no possibility of reliably handicapping the election ten weeks before election day, we will treat this as a long-running municipal election and provide the Morning Line after Labour Day. Though there is no sympathy on our part for all those so-called pundits whose summer holidays have been interrupted, you can still enjoy your summer. Drop into Babel-on-the-Bay occasionally and we will try to help you to understand what is going on in the election marathon.
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Copyright 2015 © Peter Lowry
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