Sunday, February 05, 2006

The Day the Music Died

I told my students that if the conservatives won a majority that they would not have to do their homework as I would be quitting to go underground and form a resistance. On Monday February 6th 2005, Stephen Harper will be sworn in as our new Prime Minister --thankfully not with a majority government.

One of my friends made a good point: for the first time since I've been old enough to care, or to really have a concept of the ramifications, the Liberals are not in power at the federal level. What does this mean for Canada? My guess is that this won't mean much for the short term, but the long term consequences could be huge.

I don't think the conservatives will have much wiggle room with such a thin minority, but if Harper plays his cards right it could work to his advantage. Being held in check by the rest of the Liberals and NDP, the Conservatives may not be able to completely destroy what remains of public health care and education. Heck, they may not even be able to keep 'the gays' from getting married this time around...and this is my point. At first I thought this would be great--strong oppositional powers keeping Harper's more sociopathic ideas in check. But then if that works too well, Canadians may get a skewed sense of what the conservatives really stand for. This skew could cause a whole bunch of normally center-left leaning Canadians (who also tend to be swing voters) vote conservative in the next election and GASP! give the conservatives a majority thus unleashing the large throbbing republican spirit that pulses blue in Harper's veins.

4 years of federal conservatism is bad, but 8 years would be much worse. Add four of those years as a majority gov't and the result is bad for Canada in every conceivable way. I'll be the first to admit that Canadian politics are literally and conceptually problematic. We're hardwired into the U.S. economically and ideologically. Our objections to various US policies are facilitated by a position of privilege. We can get away with saying 'we disagree' without compromising our lifestyle. I've often wondered why Canadians don't suffer more backlash than they do for being in such a comfy spot. I suppose that yet another benefit of living nextdoor to the world's superpower. But these problems can't be allowed to silence our voice of dissent. Canadians need to be vocal now more than ever. I'll lead by example: "Hey Canada! Yeah you! Starting tomorrow you need to make it clear to Rt. Hon. Stephen Harper that the only reason his party was elected was everybody was pissed off at the Liberals. The Conservatives represent what happens when we 'settle' rather than 'choose'. "