Prime Time Crime
(Published in the Abbotsford News week of Jan. 2, 2006)
Ontario will still decide the election
John Pifer
During this tepid federal election campaign, there have been many references to how British Columbian voters may actually be the ones to decide what government Canada gets in the January 23rd election.
Local politicians, and even the national party leaders, have said with the race too close to call that what BCers do will be meaningful to the outcome. Well, they would, wouldn’t they? Just as they tell voters in the Maritime Provinces that their ballots could mean the difference between a Liberal minority or majority, or even a Conservative minority.
Much as it would be nice and warm and fuzzy to believe that what happens in BC will be of such importance to the overall outcome, the truth is it will not. The nature of Canada’s next government will be decided where it always has been decided – in Ontario.
If Ontario voters finally acknowledge that 12 years of Liberal domination, corruption, waste and undemocratic rule are enough, and they turn away from the greasy Grits, the election outcome will be known before the polls even close here on the Wet Coast. Conversely, if Ontario voters hold their nose and give further support to Paul Martin and his gang of thugs and thieves, despite all that has transpired under Liberal rule, it will not matter what British Columbians do.
There are 100 of the 300 parliamentary seats up for grabs in our most populous province – one-third of the seats in the House of Commons. When you do the math leaving out the anomaly that is Quebec and the traitorous Bloc Quebecois, that percentage of seats rises to more than 40%!
No wonder it is difficult to imagine a result other than a Liberal government – minority or majority – what with the sycophantic kowtowing of the Atlantic Provinces to the Grits, and the Ontario powerhouse. Even if Ontario voters decide that enough is enough, and swing substantially to the Conservatives, it would almost assuredly result in only a minority government for the Tories. And again, it would be an Ontario-led decision, with BC results merely topping up the numbers.
That does not mean it is not worth it to vote – it is your duty and responsibility to do so. Just don’t be so naive as to think that here on the Left Coast, we will determine the outcome.
There are still two weeks to go in this campaign, and it is expected that the Liberals, faced with losing power – and it is all about power, isn’t it? – will fight with the nastiness of a cornered rat not to lose that control. Voters will be bribed with their own money; many more promises will be made and never kept; and the astounding waste of hundreds of millions of tax dollars will continue, thanks to the complacency of the average Canadian, and the duplicity of the leading politicians.
It is said that we get the governments we deserve. Based on the Mulroney, Chrétien and Marin governments of the last two decades, Canadians obviously have deserved the worst … and got it.
Veteran B.C. journalist/broadcaster John Pifer may be reached at jwpifer@shaw.ca.
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