It's easy to criticise. Last Tuesday was my first time being a panel member. I had a few hours to come up with questions. II didn't do it that well. More time would have made a difference. But I wasn't a candidate so it didn't matter much. Except I am my greatest critic in anything I do.
I thought the candidates acquitted themselves well. Vanessa Long made the greatest impresssion but won't make a difference.Much of the audience were there in support of one candidate or another. Few minds would be changed by the debate.
I'm having a vigorous argument with my grand-daughter Stephanie ,at the moment. She is very dis-satisfied with what 's on offer. I 'm having a hard time persuading her the onus is upon her own shoulders.
The democratic system works best with two parties. If neither represents what she thinks they should, she should join one and set about contributing to change.
Splinter parties create splinters. You can't build a damned thing with splinters.Even the Three Little Pigs found that out to their distinct disadvantage.
An election is too late to correct things.
A grandson, just finished high school last year, informed me last night,he knows the NDP candidate. From high school... currently a university student. Couldn't attend the debate because of exams. Doesn't have many signs.
Does anyone imagine there was a nomination contest? Of course not. The candidate probably allowed her name to stand. So the NDP can claim to be a national party with a candidate in every riding.
That's a bit of a scam isn't it? Well it's good for candidates in secure NDP ridings to pretend they have a chance to form a government.
I didn't read of a nomination battle for the Liberal candidacy either. It could mean Kyle Petersen has agreed to take time from normal existence to fight for the Liberal Banner.
What if he didn't?
What if the Hybrid- Conservative candidate was the only choice?
Certainly the candidate's table was largest, the display the most extravagant. Whatever money could buy was on that table.
Money is power, they say.
Can it buy anything?
Well yes....probably...eventually.
Can it buy your vote?
Possibly. Are you aware of its influence? Probably not.
Is it a good thing for money to buy your vote?
Ah Yes my friend....but that is the question.
What price is your vote ?
Will more jail cells do it for you? Will sexual predators who managed to torture and murder repeatedly before they were trapped by their own mistakes, being in jail but not forever,make you willing to sell your vote?
Will scrapping the long gun registry, though you've never owned a gun or likely to, make you feel
safer in your bed at night? Is that the price of your vote?
In Welland, the last manufacturing plant is closing its doors. Real estate values have fallen through the floor. Wellanders are in complete despair. Free Trade did that for us. You forgot about that, didn't you. It's what made Ontario a have- not province.
Remember Michael Wilson's and Brian Mulroney's assurances?
My grand-daughter Stephanie was only ten when that happened. She graduated from university several years ago. Underemployed since and unemployed now, Didn't learn much about politics in any school she attended.
Anyway, when it comes right down to it.What is the price of your vote? Is it about being assured of your safety on the streets and in your bed , when you didn't even know you weren't?
Is it about knowing your neighbours are unemployed because of a deliberate government policy?
Is it about food banks being the order of the day and an entire generation growing up knowing they are second-class citizens without much hope for anything better?
Or is it about hope and confidence and trust that in this great country our forebears built for us, the best is yet to come.
And it will only happen, as it did before, by being there for each other.
The future will depend on individuals taking what is properly their own personal responsibility for their actions, for their behaviour to others, for this country and for their place in it.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately politics and politicians have been in decline throughout the past sixty or more years. We have no leaders in whom we can place our faith, our trust nor our respect.
The current election campaign brings to mind a fish market after all the unwanted bits and pieces have been left behind in the sun, over a long weekend. This is not a pleasant thought, but it is what we've got.
A big irresponsible stink!
It is easy to criticise past Federal governments for decisions made then. Hindsight is 20/20.
ReplyDelete"In Welland, the last manufacturing plant is closing its doors. Real estate values have fallen through the floor. Wellanders are in complete despair. Free Trade did that for us. You forgot about that, didn't you. It's what made Ontario a have- not province. "
You don't specify what the plant made, so it is hard to confirm your assertation the FTA had anything to do with it. When FTA was brought in, the government of the day felt that Canada's economy will shift from a manufacturer to a service-based industry. Welland houses the Canadian Tire Acceptance office with a national call-centre. I read something once that it was the largest employer in the City. I think that big office beside the 404 in Aurora is another example of that shift.
Regarding your grand-daughter - you don't say what her degree was but I was talking to someone over the weekend that had graduated with a degree in History. Four years before she had no idea what she wanted to do with her life so that is the path she took. Now, she realizes that the degree does nothing for her now and is about to go back to get her B-Comm so that she can be an accountant.
I think it is incumbant on upon the parents of these people and to a certain degree the guidance depts at secondary schools to provide realistic objectives for these people. Why spend four years in a program only to become "underemployed" once you're done? You can't blame that on governments of today or the past - people must take responsibility for their futures.
That's not politics - that is life!