I’m trying everyday to understand more about the elections going on here in Canada. It’s not so much as figuring out the whole process as it is to decipher the messages coming out from the parties involved here. There’s the first hint. “Parties.” There are four, main parties battling for what’s at stake. Then it becomes a matter of figuring out what the messages are. The American mind in me has a slight problem with this. You get so used to black and white. This party or that party. Sure, there are other alternatives, but not like this. Now there is all sorts of colors that it’s tough figuring out the dividing line between them. Well, it’s not that apparent, but the fact that you have that many choices is very interesting to a newcomer like myself.
Personally, I fear what it would mean with the conservatives in power. There is already mention by their nominee for prime minister, Harper, as to a build up in the military. This idea feels unsettling. Sure, there is the notion of having the ability to defend yourself, becoming a recognized power in the world, and protecting the natural resources your country produces. At the same time, I can’t understand the reason for Canada for having to build their military more than it already is. This is just a single, sliver of an issue in the whole election, but it’s just a gut feeling. Hell, my opinion really doesn’t even count, but just watching all of this unfold causes me to have some thoughts.
The Bush administration would probably love to see a conservative led government to the north. Paul Martin (for those of you who are lacking in world knowledge, he’s the current prime minister of Canada. Got it? Ok!) hasn’t had kind words for the U.S. in the past few months due to the whole softwood lumber dispute, but can you blame the guy? NAFTA setup laws that made the tariffs that the U.S. was putting on Canada’s softwood exports to the states illegal, but the American government kept doing it, declaring what we were doing was not wrong. It took far too many rulings by the NAFTA board for the U.S. to back down and remove the tariffs. So was Paul Martin wrong for his harsh words? I don’t think so.
So yeah, here’s more of that change I was talking about. I’m trying to be more open with my ideas and speaking more of my mind, but I’m not the best at it when it comes to political issues. I have opinions. I think too much. I feed my mind, but do little with what I learn. Don Deeley has been the best at getting these types of things out of me. For one of the first times, I’m bringing it to the surface. More so, I took one of those quizzes that helps determine your political views. I turned out to be socialist. Rebecca was pinned as being democrat. I’m still trying to figure out how that happened. This might be a start.
“I turned out to be socialist. Rebecca was pinned as being democrat.”
AH geez…..