Canadians finally have decided that being in the vanguard of international Neo-liberal community isn’t so shit hot after all. The whole free markety/trickle-downy charade was looking dilapidated and tired; the fear-stick had been applied to the public, with such magnitude and frequency, that suddenly Conservative ideology seemed retrograde even quaint. How engaging are the grand policy strategies of “GWB-lite” after ten years of living the Conservative dream?
We should give the Harper government full marks for stretching those ideological skid-marks of neo-liberal ideology out as far as (they) he did. The hard sell on Neo-liberalism had to go, and off it went, with Canadians giving the Liberal party of Canada a firm mandate and majority to… well… not be the Conservatives.
This is what worries me the most. Like the two business class parties in the US, the federal PC’s and Liberals in Canada both offer oligarchy approved governance styles. The main difference is that the Liberals like to use lube while buggering the public trust, while the Conservatives use a handful of sand. Our social system was savaged by the Liberal government of the 90’s under false pretenses – this same government also approved NAFTA – the free investors agreement – that has been savaging our domestic economy since its inception. Is being sold down the river wistfully by a hand-wringing government ‘forced to make the tough decisions’ any different than one that outfits the public with lead boots and kick off the docks?
Comparing the election wins of Obama and Trudeau reveals similarities that, for progressive voters, ought to inspire some trepidation. Hope and Change may inspire the imagination, but implementing actual societal change is *hard* and given the political realities of the situation. I really want to believe Justin Trudeau when he says, “the old Canada we knew and loved, is back”.
When he gets us out of the Trans Pacific Partnership – the latest free investor agreement and curb stomp to the domestic economy – I might start to believe him.
bleatmop
Mystro
Dead Wild Roses 
6 comments
October 27, 2015 at 9:15 am
bob
Well put. Society might progress nicely and not take decades to do so, if the majority could vote based on facts and figures w/o the influence of the PR/ big money of the minority.
LikeLiked by 1 person
October 27, 2015 at 2:18 pm
bleatmop
To me there is one and only one issue that we must press Trudeau to fulfill and that is electoral reform. Never again must 35% of Canadians that voted be allowed to decide a majority government for the rest of us. Everything else that has happened is by and large enabled by our FPTP electoral system and the strategic voting it encourages. People should be free to vote for the party they want. Voting strategically for a party that we only find tolerable just to keep one we feel is abysmal out is a perversion of what democracy should be.
LikeLiked by 1 person
October 27, 2015 at 9:12 pm
VR Kaine
@Arb: “Our social system was savaged by the Liberal government of the 90’s under false pretenses.” Oh how the rest of us forget! Glad to hear someone is finally acknowledge this as well as the slew of phony campaign promises that were made in desperation by Martin in the months leading up to the election.
@Bleatmop: “Never again must 35% of Canadians that voted be allowed to decide a majority government for the rest of us.” This was another thing – when Harper was voted in again all the anti-Harper’s were complaining about this, and yet look at how many Liberal governments prior won with the same minority stats.
“To me there is one and only one issue that we must press Trudeau to fulfill and that is electoral reform.” Agreed as the starting point – if Trudeau’s going to be a reformer, then that’s precisely where he can start to ensure that the entire country has a fair and democratic future with or without him.
Heck, make every province now count as one vote a piece. :) Imagine PEI having the same pull as Ontario? Or (dare to dream) Alberta having the same pull as Ontario? There are some (a few) advantages that the American system has in this regard, I believe.
LikeLiked by 1 person
October 28, 2015 at 1:10 am
jasonjshaw
Fully agree. 39% of the votes should not equal 54% of the seats.
I would also like my vote to be more than a superficial statistic for once in my life. Just look at how ridiculous it is in Toronto:
LikeLiked by 2 people
October 28, 2015 at 1:12 am
jasonjshaw
hmm, can’t link the graphic … basically it shows that just over half of Torontonians voted Liberal, but 100% of the seats in the city became red.
LikeLiked by 1 person
October 28, 2015 at 12:44 pm
bleatmop
Vern – I agree, the knife cuts both ways. Although I’m glad to be rid of Harper I have not forgotten why I jumped aboard the good ship Conservative way back when. That is to get rid of the Liberal corruption that was at the heart of Canada’s government. Sadly what was promised was not what was delivered; in fact it was not only more of the same but an exponential growth in the corruption. I’m hoping a proportional electoral system will mean I will no longer have to vote party X simply because I want party Y out of power. Instead I want to vote for who I actually want out of power.
LikeLike