Election Time Baby

It's that time again. The time when our tax dollars get used to put up pictures of people that go on TV and squawk about what they think Canadians want - the problem being that Canadians have very widespread opinions, meaning there probably isn't a single set of issues that the "average Canadian" wants, probably explains why we have five major parties.

Even given five parties (and several smaller ones that don't usually get many votes), I'm still not sure which one to vote for. They all seem to annoy me.

First we have the current rulers, the Conservatives. They're all about big business, deregulation, etc. Their response to a falling economy is "sweet, a good time to buy stocks!" While I was starting to warm up to these kids, their fearless leader, Stephen Hitler, er, Harper proposed a nasty bill which from my inspection restricts the market far more than it helps it. This gives me the impression that when they say "the economy" what they really mean is "my corporate buddies". So these guys kinda suck.

Then there is the main opposition, the Liberals (they make it nice and clear to us which is left and which is right, although the Liberal party isn't really all that liberal by today's definition). I don't really have much to say about these guys, they're the one's I'm most likely to vote for.

Alright, let's get started with the NDP. Actually, let's not or I'll be here ranting all day. These are the ones who support the people who think that life is unfair, that they're being exploited, yadda yadda. It's these type of people who make it so that a bus driver gets paid more than a computer programmer. They couldn't tell a budget sheet if it came up and stuck itself up their asses (probably where they'd put the budget sheet if they found it anyway). Not to mention how Jack Layton plasters his picture everywhere, you'd think he got the idea from Stalin. At least he's better looking than Stalin.

I don't support Quebec separatism - I would have to quit my job and move if they separated, which would be really annoying - so the Bloc Quebecois is out.

Finally, the Greens. They haven't actually won a single seat in parliament, despite having around 5% of the vote last election and when I read the paper yesterday, they're catching up to the NDP in the polls. For a while, they were being refused entry to the election debates. One here in Montreal refused the Greens entrance, saying "they're not a real party." How democratic of them. I'd consider voting for this group, if simply to lend them a hand.

Of course, what I think really doesn't matter. We've got this wonderful first-past-the-post system that makes it so that if I don't vote for the party who will win in my riding, my vote really doesn't count that much. If history is a good mentor, I can say that the Liberals will win here given that in the last election they got over 20 000 votes, compared to their closest competition who got about 9000. The previous elections were similar. What to do?