During the last few federal elections it occurred to me that our elections are becoming more like Halloween night than a serious debate about Canada’s future. It became serious enough to me that the election previous to this past one, I simply didn’t vote. Let me explain. Our elections are simply like a street with each household (Party) trying to outdo the others with better handouts. One gives the trick-or-treaters a chocolate bar so the next says, come to my house and I will give you two bags of potato chips. It’s much more complex than that of course. Depending on the neighbourhood that the trick-or-treater comes from, the enticements vary. If your interest is mass transit, we’ve got something for you. If its climate change, we’ve got something for you. Indigenous rights, anti-oil? Benefits for teachers, doctors, immigrants, miners, police, the elderly? More for daycare or a multitude of charities? We’ve got the best treats for you. And the list goes on.
What no-one talks about is a bigger better, more world relevant Canada. No-one has a vision that ALL Canadians can see. A project that unifies instead of promoting the continuous competition between a multitude of divided special interests, including corporate interests, A system that encourages Canadians to fight over crumbs that the government drops strategically in order to buy votes. I keep looking for the “Build a railroad across the country”, “Create a Confederation”, “Send a man to the moon,” “Create a UN Peace Corps” moment. I wait for someone to propose a high-speed railway line across the country or even from Calgary to Edmonton or Montreal to Toronto. I would like to see Canada contract SAAB to build jet aircraft in Canada. But, I want more, I want the project to build 80 aircraft to become a Canadian aircraft manufacturing industry with new Canadian innovations. I don’t want the usual promises, like, to build new navy ships, not today, but in 15 or 20 or 30 years. I want to see a vision for Canada. I want to see something other than announcements that the government is giving another few $Million to another special interest in order to buy votes.
