I voted Conservative. So did millions of people throughout Canada. They even gave the Conservative party an increased mandate to govern, albeit a minority one. So, I was happy. The Conservatives will bring on their agenda, but the opposition would keep them in check.
Never did the thought cross my mind that the opposition parties would form a coalition to take away the Conservative’s mandate to govern. This has never happened in my lifetime, and this has only happened once in Canada’s modern history.
How do I feel? I’m no politician. I’m no government bureaucrat. But it hurts to see how the opposition has treated the western vote with such utter contempt. They found an opportunity – a poor decision on Harper’s part and went in for the kill to take my vote away and bring power back east again.
And it may happen if Michele Jean decides to allow this coalition to proceed, to be led by a leader that was clearly rejected by the whole country, to be propped up by a party that has no sound grounding in basic economics, and to be shored up by a party that wants to break this country apart.
An election does not appeal to me either. I have allowed my voice to be heard by voting . Having another election would make that voice worthless.
The solition? Michele Jean – you are the head of state. Exercise your power to force everyone to work together for the betterment of the country. If you allow this coalition to proceed as is, you run the risk of alienating Western Canadians like myself. Force a coalition that includes ALL parties. That’ll teach them to play these games with my vote.
The West wants to play too. Don’t let these eastern bullies turn their backs on us.
Learn how the Canadian parliament system works my Capilano friend…
To force a coalition involving all parties… yeah, that doesn’t jive with the Canadian parliamentary system. And reading my post… a lot of it does sound quite illogical. It just felt so frustrating to see the prospect of Stephan Dion gain power even though more than half the country didn’t vote for him. This coalition that they formed, while following the letter of how the Canadian parliamentary system works alienated a lot of people, especially those in the west who didn’t vote for either of the three parties in that coalition. I understand how the system works… but the way that the coalition came about (through Harper’s bone headed partisan decisions and the coalition’s threat to bring Dion to power) truly showed that this parliamentary system needs to change… particularly in a time of economic upheaval that we’re facing today.
You may not agree with my political leanings, which probably brought you to post (and I’m thankful that you actually read my ramblings). The point I just wanted to get across was the frustration that I felt at the time.
It appears now, that at least the liberals are starting to play nice. Let’s hope that the budget that the Conservatives will be something that all parties can live with… and that all the parties put aside their power grabs to get the economy rolling again.