Not thrilled with any of these choices

Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 18/09/2021 (1459 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about federal politics lately. In light of Monday’s federal election, I thought it might be appropriate to share some of these musings with you.

Each of the leaders make promises to voters, from parliamentary reform to spending, taxes and social policy. We, in turn, use our votes to show support for various policies and politicians.

It’s an old bromide to talk about politicians breaking promises, but why are we sanguine about it? We can only judge these people by the words and their actions. What else do we have?

Prior to the 2015 federal election, I discounted Justin Trudeau’s likelihood of victory. Why? Because commitments like parliamentary reform and eliminating the deficit are incredibly difficult. There is no perfect electoral structure anywhere in the world. There may be some that offer greater stability or voter interaction, but not a single platform makes everyone happy.

Ultimately, though, I believed then (and believe now) that Trudeau was a very shallow version of his father. He wasn’t a classically educated law professor — he was a trust-fund baby who became a drama teacher after providing snowboard lessons and attending parties in blackface.

He’s as shallow as milk on a platter.

Why would anyone think Justin Trudeau would be the best person to lead us?

As quickly as he was elected, he used a throwaway virtue expression to explain why half of his first cabinet was female. Remember “… because it’s 2015?” Such an offensive line that was undoubtedly screen-tested by Trudeau’s brain trust. His quick quips and shirtless selfies were indicative of his depth.

I wrote so at the time and believe so now.

Elections are more often about getting rid of the old guy than electing a new one.

Make no mistake — Stephen Harper’s last campaign was a complete mess. Anyone recall the barbaric practices hotline? What were they thinking? My sense is that the most right-wing elements of Harper’s team had his ear. If you think about that election campaign, and then consider a lot of the Trump rhetoric, you would notice a lot of similarities, including dog-whistle messages.

There wasn’t a lot to choose from in 2015, and things haven’t gotten a lot better in 2021.

I can’t get my head around Jagmeet Singh. In many respects, he seems to be the most open and transparent leader. He is openly appealing to young people through his TikTok videos. Singh is talking about wild spending plans and new taxes on the wealthy (whoever that may be).

Quite frankly, I trust Singh and believe him. That’s why I can’t vote for him. His policies are not designed for me. I need a manager and can’t stomach yet another visionary.

In the columnist’s opinion, we simply cannot afford Trudeau’s “building back better” nonsense nor Singh’s earnest musings. Thanks to the toxic combination of Trudeau’s pre-pandemic spending (already a massive deficit) and his out-of-control pandemic spending, there are few coins left in the kitty. We are in a tough way, friends, and this is the beginning of a time of restraint, not more profligacy.

So who does that leave?

The obvious answer for me, so it would seem, is Conservative Erin O’Toole. A former corporate lawyer from Ontario, O’Toole has been in Parliament for almost a decade. He ran for the Tory leadership in 2017 and lost. This time he was retooled as a much more conservative Tory. So who is he?

I don’t know how I feel about him.

Was he being honest about his values in 2017, or now? Is he tacking left in this election only to return to a more conservative core, or is he always a moderate? One could go crazy trying to figure this stuff out.

It’s a tough call, friends, and for such a serious juncture in our nation’s history, I’m disappointed in our choices.