Prime Time Crime
(Published in the Abbotsford News week of Nov. 14, 2005)
Election Choice: None of the Above
John Pifer
As the dog-and-pony show over when the federal election will be held continues to play out in Ottawa, it is becoming increasingly evident that for the majority of Canadians, their preferred choice is “None of the above”.
The silly jockeying for position and finger-pointing charade that the Opposition parties and the Liberal government are playing merely serves to further denigrate the whole world of politics in the minds of most. Given that most people already view politicians at a level lower than whale droppings, the current nonsense merely deepens the conviction that honesty and integrity are, and always have been, absent in this ‘profession’.
Who cares which party actually triggers the election, with some Christmas-time campaigning looming? It seems so ironic that a government that has tried so hard for years to avoid the use of ‘Merry Christmas’, to be replaced by the supposedly politically-correct ‘Season’s Greetings’ or ‘Happy Holidays’, now hides behind the word Christmas as a reason not to have that election just yet.
All of the media breast-beating by all parties is, tragically, taking the focus away from the truth of the matter that should produce outrage in all Canadians – the fact that this Liberal government is corrupt, and for years has been corrupt. The initial findings of the Gomery Inquiry confirmed that; and waiting for the second installment of Mr. Justice Gomery’s probe makes little sense, unless you are a Liberal wanting more time to shell out pre-election goodies to the taxpayers/voters. After all, Gomery’s second serving will be primarily to outline ways to prevent further corruption, money laundering and favours for Liberal friends and insiders.
Amazingly, despite those revelations, and clear evidence that the majority of Canadians do not buy the BS that Prime Minister Paul Martin, then finance minister, was unaware of millions of dollars being paid out to Quebec companies and high-ranking Liberal friends and financiers, the Liberals stay atop the public-opinion polls.
Much of the responsibility for that lays in the pitiful choices the Canadian voter has:
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Stick with Mr. Dithers Martin, despite his ingrained hypocrisy and doublespeak
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Vote for Stephen Harper and the Tories, a man whose picture may be found in the dictionary under ‘lacklustre’ and/or ‘ineffective’, or
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Waste a vote on the NDP and Jack Layton, who is so two-faced about his support for the Liberals when it suits him, despite their corruption, that he may well now have three faces.
Let us just get this over with – another whining, ineffective, undemocratic minority government appears to be a certainty unless Mr. Harper has a personality transplant, or Mr. Martin makes all voters forget his party’s holier-than-thou dictatorial methods through 11 years of growing fat and complacent.
More Canadians may opt to be apathetic and choose not to vote at all, and with the choices available, who could blame them?
Just when the country needs an honest, strong, no-nonsense leader with vision and a compassionate drive for something other than naked power, we get these Three Stooges. Only in Canada, eh? Pity.
Veteran B.C. journalist/broadcaster John Pifer may be reached at jwpifer@shaw.ca.
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