In 48 hours, Canada will have a new government, and we will have more of the same old thing

New government, old government, either way, we'll get more of the same

 It is a painful admission to realize that despite all of the hope that one can muster, there is very little chance that Canadians will see any change in governance style, and that we'll be subjected to 5 full years(sure Harper will stick to his "fixed" election dates when he attains his coveted majority)of pugnacious, miserable leadership.
 Canadians being what they are for the most part; ignorant, malinformed, and inclined to graze in the pastures of rapacious leadership,(inbred into us all from the very early days of choosing who goes to what team in public school) will continue to endure what most nations are trying to oust: corrupt uncivilized practices that are more befitting of  tribal jurisdiction.
 A government that threatens and cajoles its' opposition versus attempting to work together no matter how feeble minded that may sound is no more a sound and stable government than a pig faced neighbourhood bully is. There is nothing good about forced subservience. Beating the shit out of your neighbour is not acceptable so why let our politicians do this on a national stage without fear of repercussion? Would you let the neighbourhood bully beat your kid? 
 The sad example of jackboot bullying that the Conservative party and its' followers have set for Canadians in the past 18 months is abhorrent to the good practices of good and decent people, and it does set the bar for how people should treat each other if the conservative brand is to be followed and adhered to. 
 Could you imagine telling your neighbours that they are rotten pieces of crap because they earned some money in another country...(better check on those personal investments first though to make certain none of that cash is being invested in the USA)I wonder how that's going to go over?  
 Or even better....maybe the immigrant family around the corner should be told they are "less of a canadian" because they previously lived elsewhere? That's what we are being told and taught at every corner from these guys. They don't tell us anything else, just how rotten everyone else is except them.
  If for a moment we think that government provides leadership on the issues, think again. It is the governments' reactions to societal challenges that drives the agenda of the day. All governance is knee jerk reaction. No one really has a plan that actually will work as things change daily quickly, and so quickly in fact that it is impossible for government to react in such a short time span.
 On the economy Canadians drove the recovery. We were taxed heavily and the federal government in their own unique way, took that money and gave it to ridings where they were elected. Tory wealth redistribution from the poor and working middle class to the upper class who were relieved of their tax burdens while the poor were forced to pony up even more, is what took place between 2008 and the present. Stephen Harpers' guidance had nothing to do with a recovery but a lot to do with an accumulated deficit of nearly $60 billion despite inheriting a massive surplus at the start of his term. After all of the crazy spending, Canada still remains rife with unemployment, rife with debt, and the roads of this country are in ruins. Although on the other side of that coin, we sure do have a lot of nice new buildings in Tony Clements' riding that may never see usage so they should hold up for a large number of years.
(heck, for a closer example you could look at the totally unneeded new entry for the local Oxford auditorium that looks like one of the new conservative super jails...maybe they do have a plan for oxford!)
 The buckle down attitude of Canadians is what saved the country from certain financial ruin.
 Our inner sense of resilience guided by our innate historical knowledge of survival in one of the harshest climates on planet earth has offered us as a whole, a survival knowledge that no other civilization possesses. We are driven to succeed and our success is measured substantially different than any other population on planet earth. Each time our government fails us, we strive harder and harder to reject and seperate ourselves from their disruptive and negative influence on our daily lives. Hence the many enclaves in Canada of peoples' or colonies who live aside from society in the small hope of being left alone and without disruption, and hence the ever declining rate of voter particpation. We just gave up.
 I used to believe that mandatory voting was the way to solve the issue of voter turnout but soon recognized that forcing people to vote against their will for a limited number of candidates who are beholden to specific non-flexible agendas who themselves are of questionable quality and education and whom individually may hold specific negative attitudes towards certain segments of the population, was not the answer to the malaise of voter turnout. What we are dealing with is unstoppable and large scale voter discontent,  which translates into discontent for  this style of government where no person matters except for those who think they lead.
 What they lead is a small enclave of peoples' in the midst of our great country. A mere three or 4 million of them, to whom they owe an electoral debt, and to whom they will engineer their government towards. The rest of Canada who also pay the bills, will be beaten out of existence, seperated by values and driven into obscurity through the usage of belittling and demeaning attack ads that do work very incredibly well to smash a persons' character to pieces, but do nothing to reinforce Canadian values  and everything to divide the nation. Left voiceless and leaderless, robbed of the security they had in their hopes, they leave the system, disengaged from public participation in this system of ignorance, which in turn is a government devoid of creativity and compassion.
 What Canada needs more than it ever did is a more direct form of democracy, engineered towards the people, and not more of the same old tired governance that everyone even in the present government have railed against. Predictably what we've been told and what we've recieved is ultmately and substantially different for a number of reasons. One big reason? The lack of true accountability measures, like recall, which goes a long way to keeping the electorate happy, and the politicians, well, on their toes and out of our pockets and lives.
 The issue with government is its' uncanny ability to live long beyond its' intended shelf life. almost like a box of cheerios that's long out lived the best before date but still looks fine when you look in the box or like keeping old Tippy the hound around, tied up to a tree, the poor old blind one legged dog that can't hold its' bowels...just may be good for one more hunt! i'm of the ind that it's best to put the old boy down and find yourself another dog that can swim and see those damned birds.
 Just like that dog, all of the government we've had or will have, should be put down to rest, and a new one purchased the following day that learns to respect its' master and to stop pissing on the carpet in the front hallway. It's up to us to take leadership on the issue of how this government works for us, and to deal ourselves a hand for once and reject what's been beaten into us from the very onset of life; that the winning team is the team you want to be on when in fact the winning team should be trying to include you, and not the other way around.


Jim Bender,
Woodstock.