Canadians have three months to make up their minds regarding their vote for the next federal election.
The consensus seems to be that we don’t like the guy currently guiding the country, or the people he has surrounded himself with. Political parties in Canada typically get a prolonged honeymoon period in which they’re able to get re-elected to a second term before they have to worry about their political future.
But as of right now, a second term for the governing Liberals would be an upset.
It’s been a precipitous fall for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the Liberals, as a series of gaffes and scandals have eroded Canadians’ trust in a government that won a convincing majority in October 2015.
The only reason the Liberals might have a chance in the next federal election is many Canadians don’t know what to make of Andrew Scheer and the Conservatives. His support as a leader is still fairly low for a man positioned to be our next prime minister.
Voters turfed the Tories four years ago; are we ready to put them back into power?
Granted, those of us in Saskatchewan were never hungry for change. The bulk of the voters in this province, as well as Alberta and large pockets of B.C. and Manitoba, were happy to re-elect Stephen Harper and his energy friendly policies that didn’t hamstring the west.
We were willing to overlook his ultra-controlling, opaque leadership style that muzzled scientists and virtually anyone who was critical of him.
We weren’t thrilled with the thought of Justin Trudeau governing the country, and even those who were willing to give him a chance threw their hands up in frustration with his immature conduct, his policies such as the carbon tax, and his willingness to cut a large cheque for Omar Khadr without a fight.
The alternatives beyond the Liberals and the Tories don’t thrill Canadians, either. The New Democratic Party has been pushing itself further towards irrelevance, first by turfing Thomas Mulcair as its leader, and then by electing Jagmeet Singh to lead the party.
It’s hard to believe that the NDP was the federal opposition in 2011, and was leading the polls at one point during the 2015 federal election campaign.
The People’s Party of Canada has created some interest, particularly when it comes to questions about whether it will split the right wing conservative vote. But they’re too new. It took a couple of elections before the Reform Party broke through in 1993; the People’s Party will likely need to follow a similar path if it’s to enjoy success.
As for the Green Party, they’re likely going to find themselves with more seats in Parliament than ever before, but they don’t have the platform or the broad appeal to gain even official party status.
People are painting a picture of whether we want the Liberals vision for Canada or the Tories. It’s not that simple. For one thing, there’s a very real chance of a minority
government getting elected. That would make it very difficult for either the Liberals or the Tories to get their vision in place.
The Liberals can talk about what they’ve done in the last four years, but they’ve been able to do that because they’ve had a majority (and a strong one at that). A lot of these policies and decision they’ve made wouldn’t have occurred if they had a minority.
The Tories will claim they’ll reverse some of the Liberal policies, such as the carbon tax and the legislation that have made life a lot tougher on energy companies. But if they don’t have a majority, it will be tough to get these policies through, unless they have some give and take with other parties.
Four years ago, we had a captivating election that was a legitimate three-party race. This time around, it’s a two-party race, and neither party has overwhelming support.
This feels like an election in which we’re going to see people voting against parties and leaders, rather than electing the candidate they actually want.
It’s not a good recipe for taking out country forward
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