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Editorial: Politics is a game
Commentary by Theresa Seraphim
for South Peace News
If your head is going from side to side right now in wonderment when you watch the news, you’re not alone.
Ever since Ottawa Day Care Ltd. (sorry, I meant Parliament) reopened in mid-September, I’m guessing many of us have been shaking our heads at what is going on in that institution.
We have an Opposition leader determined to bring down the government. It doesn’t matter that most people do not want to go to the polls for the fourth time in the last five years. No, no, no, Stephen Harper’s government must go, says Michael Ignatieff.
He’s right in that the government has to be defeated.
OK, I admit to a bias here. It’s based on a personal encounter with Harper which left me – well, shaking my head.
It happened November 11, 2005. Harper, who was running for the PM’s job, came to a church in Meadow Lake, Saskatchewan, to speak, having been invited by the local (Conservative) MP.
I was covering the event for one of the Meadow Lake papers. As Harper came up the aisle, I stepped out with my camera to get some shots. Harper said to me, “If you wait, we can get a picture together later.”
I thought, “Fine, I have only a point-and-shoot camera; he thinks I’m just a supporter.”
After Harper’s speech, I interviewed him and gave him my business card. He even commented on the fact the newspaper was published on Sunday.
Then, I left the scrum and stood on a chair to get another picture of him. He looked up at me and said, again, “We can get a picture together later.”
I was bamboozled by the fact that, even after our encounter, Harper did not seem to realize I was a reporter, and we don’t get our pictures taken with noted people. Then a feeling came over me that Harper was trying to control the situation, trying to bring me in line with his wishes.
I left that event feeling puzzled and angry. My feelings were confirmed later when Harper did indeed take steps to control the media.
So, no, I’m not a fan of his. I agree with Ignatieff that he has to go.
But Ignatieff has to realize this isn’t the time to bring down the government – not only because we citizens are loudly proclaiming our distaste at another election, but because we are in difficult economic times. We need to have security and consistency at the helm of our country as we dig our way out of this recession. In other words, we can’t be switching horses in midstream, as the saying goes.
First, let’s get back on track economically. Then we can think about an election.
And that brings up another point. Elections usually involve platforms.
For ages, Ignatieff outlined no promises. Finally, he revealed some aspects of his platform in Toronto in late September. But it took a lot of goading to get him to do that.
Well, we won’t have an election for the next – oh, week or so, anyway.
Why?
Well, here’s an irony – by abstaining from Thursday’s non-confidence vote, the New Democrats kept Harper in power.
NDP leader Jack Layton says he wants to see the Conservatives in until unemployment insurance money comes through. He voted with the Conservatives last time, too (by actually voting).
So now a party which is ideologically opposed to the government, is helping to keep that government going.
Whoever said politics makes strange bedfellows is right.
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