Here in Canada we are facing a holiday election campaign. The following piece was published just before Christmas.
Judy
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Just over a year ago we fullfilled our obligation and chose the make up of Parliment for what should have been another 4 years. At the time we passed the sacred right to govern to this group all members vowed to work together and cooperate. This vow was certainly not too much to expect considering cooperation and consensus are the two main skills the rest of us are required to use every day in both our work and our personal lives. With very few exceptions they broke this vow almost immediately. The truth is our minority government and it's Conservative rivals have been more concerned with getting more power than making use of the power which we bestowed upon them. The only Party that bothered to work with the others to create options and compromises held a paltry 18 seats and in the end was instrumental in bringing down the government. This entire group has brought political leadership down to a new all time low. Politics in Canada is now more about getting the job than about doing something with it. The sheer fact that the parties are celebrating the sucessfull downfall of the parliment they were elected to is proof of this. Now with their disobiediance they have allowed their squables to interupt our holiday season. I can think of no image that is more opposite to what this season is about than the footsteps of these "selfish children" on our doorsteps looking for more power than we were willing to give them a year ago. Add to that the irresponsible handling of our tax dollars and the deplorable behaviour we have seen in this house of commons every day and the picture of the lack of respect they have for Canadians is complete. Canadians have every right to be angry over this continued lack of respect and make it an issue in this campaign. If any party can convince us they can and will raise the standards of honesty, respect, cooperation and accountability in the next parliment they will see their fortunes increase. Otherwise we can expect little change in return for this disruption in our lives and the buisness of governing this nation.
This election should be about giving us something to vote for not something to vote against. Otherwise no matter who wins this election Canadians will once again be the ones who lose and Parliment will continue to be little more than a circus of morons.
