Majority or Minority?

By the time you read this, unless you are a very slow reader, we will have our federal election behind us. How it is configured (big word "what shape it takes") is something none of us will know until late tonight.

Another Conservative minority government? Let's hope not. A Liberal or NDP majority government? Shoot me now, please. Now. Beyond these three parties, are there any other legitimate political parties in the race? No, I didn't think so, either.

I think being a politician is a thankless job, despite some of the perks during and after one's time in office. What little I know, I think travelling back and forth to Ottawa frequently, the mindless debates on Parliament Hill, plus the handshakes, stumping, and baby-kissing would drive me crazy.

I didn't watch the leaders' debate (English version) the other night, but I did listen to part of it on the radio. I don't know about you, but I was embarrassed with the way the four also-ran parties ganged up on Stephen Harper. By the same token, I was very pleased with how he handled such crass attacks. I don't think perfection is the issue here, but certainly poise is a factor.

Political leaders (read: party leaders, members of parliament, bureaucrats) have a definite responsibility to behave themselves as mature adults when in public, especially when interacting with each other. Is it little wonder that young people have so little respect for the leaders of our land, especially when they carry on as they did in that recently-televised debate?

A majority-led government in Ottawa would serve Canada well. Whereas, a minority-led government (of any stripe) is a weak-kneed, powerless government, constantly beholden to the next largest party, always looking over its shoulder for that dreaded non-confidence vote. And to add insult to injury, when the Conservatives are dependant on the Liberals, you know our whole country's leadership is in trouble.

So, a best-case scenario would be a majority government (as opposed to a minority one), with the NDP as the official opposition. God forbid the province that has the NDP in power (hello, BC and Ontario). Nearly ten years of NDP rule turned that have-province into a have-not-province within a year. Fortunately, Gordon Campbell's Liberals (made up mostly of former Socreds and Conservatives) have restored BC back to a normal and well-deserved have-province. (I will concede that both Manitoba and Saskatchewan had better success with an NDP-led legislative assembly, but they were never robust economies by any stretch.)

But the NDP as the official watchdog would be healthy for Canada. If you ever watch Jack Layton closely, you will see that he would make an excellent Leader of the Opposition. He reminds me of Nelson Riis, the MP for Kamloops-Thompson, during my days of living in Kamloops. Though they are dissimilar, they both were clear-thinking, clear-talking, but also very clearly in the wrong party.

In these days of economic and moral instability, of national and international shifting, we really need a restraining influence and direction at the top. These are not days for reckless decisions, a devil-may-care approach to the turbulence that we are facing the the 21^st century.

I do not carry a card for any federal political party. I have never served on any committee or board for any federal political party. I leave that for others who have the stomach for such things. I speak simply as a concerned citizen that cares about Canada's future.

In the meantime, I am thinking that Stephen Harper would continue to make a great prime minister, a prime minister of a majority government. Here's hoping...