Have you ever gone on a ride and thought it was a bad idea? I've gotten on the roller coaster at West Edmonton Mall - The Mindbender. Years ago there was a bad accident and people were killed on that ride. In spite of the fact that they fixed the problem, and no one's been killed since then, that's what goes through your head. As the car slowly makes its way to the top of that first downward plunge you close your eyes and hold on tight, but when it's all over you can say that nothing bad happened. Well I'm faced with a similar situation, but this has to do with another wild ride called the 2011 Canadian election. For my international readers we Canadians are heading to the polls for the fourth time in seven years. Six weeks ago our minority Conservative government fell on a confidence matter, but had been enjoying enough popular support in the polls to give them a majority mandate. At least until a week ago.
An unthinkable thing has happened in that time; the Liberals, who have been called Canada's natural governing party, have slipped to third place behind the socialist NDP. The New Democratic Party had never enjoyed much support federally, having never formed a national government (they have been elected in several provinces, some have done well and others have not). What's even more unbelievable is that I, a small c conservative, have decided to vote for the NDP. Now I don't make it a point to blog about politics as I write more about my faith journey and how it ties in with my every day life. I don't make pitches for one political view over another here. But I have been grilled (by my more conservative friends) as to why I'm switching my vote. So here it is.
As a former Conservative supporter I voted for change. I was turned off by the heavy handed approach to government as well as the scandals known here as Shawinigate and Adscam. For years the military was underfunded, the provinces were constantly fighting with Ottawa over jurisdiction issues, the senate was being stacked with partisan appointees, the list went on. Finally in 2006 Stephen Harper became Prime Minister with a minority government, and while he deserves credit for running the longest successful minority government in Canadian history he has, in my view become a disappointment. He has done some good; personal taxes are down, the provinces have more funding for social programs and some reforms to the criminal code have been enacted. But after a while it seemed like the answer to every problem was a tax break or a longer prison sentence. The military didn't benefit much better; funding was increased but billions that were never spent by the DND were returned to the treasury. Aside from some new transport planes and some used tanks that ended up in storage, any new equipment that arrived was ordered by the former government. And in five years no steel had been cut for badly needed ships for the Navy.
From underpowered, overpriced (yet to be ordered) stealth fighters to $1 billion on security for last year's G8/G20 summits it seemed that the Conservatives were in name only. They promised transparency but practiced secrecy; they were elected to be accountable but became heavy handed and began creating their own scandals, albeit on a smaller scale. In other words they became the people I voted against. I felt more uneasy in my support for the Conservatives and could never bring myself to vote Liberal. So then I looked at the NDP and was surprised by how much I agreed with their platform. Their leader, Jack Layton, is a principled, respected man. He's taken an already moderately socialist party (in Canada everything's moderate it seems) and made it more moderate. Yes he's pledged to raise corporate taxes to pay for expanded programs but still keep them below the rate in the U.S. Yes he's pledged cap & trade on carbon emissions but only in cooperation with the U.S. so Canadian businesses are on a level playing field. Yes there's the usual socialist mantra of better education, pensions & health care, but promising to hire more police officers, maintain defense spending levels, rebuilding the navy and cutting small business taxes are sensible conservative like policies.
My faith journey has also affected the way I'm voting this time too. Having become more aware of social justice issues, that God wants the church to help the poor and oppressed, it makes sense to vote for a party that has its roots in the Christian faith. Tommy Douglas, who formed the first socialist government in North America (Saskatchewan specifically), helped pave the way for Canada's most cherished social program - Medicare. He was also a Baptist minister. It's ironic that a few years ago a more modern, secular Canada polled Douglas as the most famous Canadian in our history; a man from an era where it wasn't so unpopular to mix religion and politics. Of course today's NDP has changed since Douglas' time, but his fingerprints are still on the party. So aside from their stance on Afghanistan (I believe Canada should keep its soldiers there in a training role) I pretty much agree with just about everything Jack Layton stands for. So for me on May 2nd I'm voting for the guy with the smile and the mustache. It'll feel like getting on the mindbender, but I'm pretty sure I'll still be alive when the ride's over. And regardless of where you stand I hope that you, the average Canadian, will cast a ballot on Monday. Regardless of whoever wins the election, I believe the nation is in God's hands. People will fail us, and if Jack becomes PM he may fail too. But like I wrote in another blog post my vote is ultimately for Jesus, because only He can bring real lasting hope & change to our nation.
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