Side by Side
What is at stake with the next election, coming up next month?
Do we try hard to not end up in the chaos pool south of us? Do we vote to make sure we don’t lose our sovereignty? Is it about ideals anymore or are we voting against what we don’t want?
What makes this challenging is applying the Republican/Conservative connection and the Liberal/Democrat connection. Is a vote for Pierre Pollieve any different than a vote for Trump? Is Carney a Canadian Biden, albeit younger? Have we lost our own independent identity?
There is no question that Republicans and Conservatives share the same DNA. They’re both focused on business interests and privatization. They view government as nothing but fraud and waste. And they aren’t wrong to think that. One of the issues of a Democrat/Liberal government is the public service goes mostly unchecked as they are beholden to unions and believe jobs should be created by government. But just like a Wall Street bubble, expecting the government to continue growing forever is what creates a budget that is unweildy with the only solution high taxation.
Imagine for a moment a world in which there was a compromise in which governement would have to go through a thorough review to catch fraud and waste and find ways to become efficient while also reviewing regulations and ensuring they are fair and relevant. If businesses are able to grow and government allowed right-sizing, we could conceivably have lower taxes but still have plenty of public services. There are Social Capitalist countries in the world that have thriving businesses that take Social needs seriously. It doesn’t have to be all or nothing. That is what makes this election hard. We have two extremes to vote for, both of which are not great for the average Canadian. Gutting the government just to gut it throws out needed services with the unneeded ones. Public service was designed to help fill in the places where profits are not the goal. Keeping veterans healthy and in homes is not a profitable business. If it were privatized it would be scaled back to benefit those that don’t need it, which is where the profit lies. Healthcare should not be a for profit industry because everyone has health and cannot control what diseases they contract or when accidents happen. In the states a person could be denied healthcare because their insurance won’t pay and the person could never possibly afford the outrageous prices on their own. It’s not a good fit and a moral disaster.
The flip side is having the government run healthcare like it’s a bottomless pit they can continue throwing money into and somehow it will all work out. If government is going to run it, run it as if they are using other people’s money and be accountable to making sure it is spent properly. We as Canadians pay an amazing amount into the tax bucket and only complain in coffee shops on how it’s spent. Take a moment to get to know you MP. Find out what is being done to manage the money going into healthcare and demand that it be used properly. It’s your money.
So what am I trying to get at with all this? This vote is important. But so is every day that you live in a democracy. Before we have to organize marches in the street to protest stupidity, take the time to talk to your MP’s. Know what is important to you and ask them what they are going to do to address it. Ask both parties. Ask all parties. Just because you have always voted one way doesn’t lock you in to voting only that way. Both sides have their positives and negatives. Neither is going to be a saviour or a devil. Stay involved. Remember, the dumbest question is the one never asked.
