Metroblog

But I digress ...

02 July 2004

We Have a Winnah!



So we have a new Prime Minister; and guess what--it's the same one!

Unfortunately Paul Martin insists on telling people he has a mandate.

A minority government is the very expression of an absence of a mandate, Paul. The new House of Parliament looks like this, and my deep suspicion is that it'd be a lot tighter between the Liberal and Conservative parties if anybody really knew what Stephen Harper was about.

I think that in retrospect, a lot of people voted for the Liberals because they were afraid of what havoc the Conservatives could wreak on a country that's been functioning, overall, pretty well lo this past fifteen years or so.

You see, the old blue "small-c" conservatives are mostly gone. Sure, members from the party of that name remain in the party, and some even have seats in the House, but the worrying bit is all those members who got the right to wear the big blue "C" on their lapels as part of the recent merger between the "Alliance" party and the Progressive Conservatives (the new party, apparently, is no longer progressive--nor tremendously interested in progress).

You see, before they were the Alliance, they were the Reform Party (of which nothing but a provincial rump is left--or rather, right). Reform members got a certain amount of press and, eventually, noteriety, as much for their attitudes toward (abbreviated list) racism, women's rights, and crime.

With these antecedents, is it any wonder that they sought to shed their skins and become the Canadian Alliance?

For the remaining Reform MPs who stuck to the federal party, the union of the Progressive Conservatives with the Alliance was a rush to the middle, for the PC's, it was a betrayal of their essentially centrist philosophy. But for Canada, it was all about granting the right wing some badly-needed legitimacy.

Clearly, judging by the election results, they managed to impress a few people.

I'm quite glad the Bloc Quebecois will no longer be the "Loyal" Opposition. But I feel that the choice of many western Canadians, particularly Albertans, to elect right wingnuts to Parliament is a threatening rumble. Indeed, if Stephen Harper had stepped down before the election, the party might have even been borderline electable.

So we Labour on with a minority government. There'll probably be another election to consolidate power if the Libs do anything progressive, or even interesting. Until then, I hope never to try the sort of marathon blogging again that I did in the pre-election run-up.

Late-broken News

Caught between a rock and a rapidly-shrinking bank balance, I've decided to take on some trucking runs. This sucks in ways I can't possibly explain--especially if your idea of trucking comes from dumb (really stupid, actually) movies, or even dopier 1980's TV shows.

More of the which anon.

  • Aaah--people after my own heart, sort of.
  • 4 Comments:

    At 9:09 pm, Blogger Unknown said...

    Thanks for sharing kind of information with us .
    We provide tech support information which helps users to resolve their technical issues. Belkin.Range

     
    At 11:32 pm, Blogger Unknown said...

    Thanks for sharing informative information. Antivirus guide contains the antivirus tech information which provides to the user to get resolve their antivirus technical issues. antivirus guide

     
    At 7:50 am, Blogger canonprinterhelpline said...

    Thanks for sharing Informative Post. Need Pogo Games support phone number dial 1800-358-0071
    Visit more: Pogo Games toll free number

     
    At 2:42 am, Blogger Lory Sent said...

    support.threattracksecurity is a customer support which is available whole day and night that take cares of customer devices. If you face any problem with your device then contact Vipre Customer Support Number and get expert help.also more information Vist Our Site:- Vipre Antivirus Customer Service Provider

     

    Post a Comment

    << Home