Reflections On The Canadian Election

As an American living in Canada, I get to see politics here in Canada and in the U.S. from a very unique perspective. The U.S. federal election was held three weeks ago, and America’s Vice-Crybaby-in-Chief Al Gore is using the power of state and federal courts to steal what the American voters legitimately denied him in the general election. It is for this very reason that the electoral college was put in place – to protect the big states from ganging up on the little states, and so that in Al Gore’s own words, “Every vote can count”. Gore wants a hand recount of ballots in selected Democratically heavy counties, and my belief is, that if he wants a hand recount, it should be in all 67 Florida counties. But unlike me, Al Gore does not play fair. He either wants it his way or no way at all. But enough of America’s current unresolved problem.

Here in Canada, we had a federal election the day before yesterday, where a third consecutive Liberal majority was swept into power. The Liberals took over 170 of the 301 possible seats in the House of Commons, thus forming a clear majority with about a 15 percent cushion, should any Liberal MP’s (Members of Parliament) dissent. They will still get unpopular bills passed. What is particularly disturbing about this election is that Ontario filled its 103 seats in the House of Commons with one New Democrat (NDP), two members of the Canadian Alliance, and 100 Liberals – this despite the fact the Liberal government has time and again given Ontario voters the shaft. Ontario consistently pays more into the federal tax system than they receive in return. Were the Commons a corporation, they would have all been fired long ago, and the leaders would be doing time. But the voters of this province (Ontario), being the seemingly the blind sheep they are, just keep rewarding these imbeciles with extended stays in Ottawa. What the heck ever happened to serving the public and not lining one’s wallets with gold-plated pension plans?

As to who seems to be getting the most of the federal largesse: That would have to be Quebec, the province of which not only this Prime Minister - Jean Chrétien (right) is from, but one of three of the last six Prime Ministers who happen to be from there as well. Quebec consistently gets more money from Ottawa than they pay into the system, which makes their cries for secession seem all the more odd.

In the years since Trudeau, and to some extent I have to blame Tory leader and former PM Brian Mulroney as well, Canadians have seen their personal taxes rise from 30% of their income to 57%, and heaven help you if you make more than $65,000 a year. The Liberal government has made a promise that they are going to scrap the 5% surtax on high wage earners in the next budget, provided they get elected. Well, guess what folks, they got elected to a third straight majority – and in the Liberal Party, you either vote with the party on everything, and I mean everything, or they figuratively ‘break your legs’. Just ask John Nunziata, who refused to vote in favor of the 1994 budget because the Liberals failed to scrap the much-hated 7% Goods and Services tax (GST). Chrétien immediately turfed (threw him out) him out of the Party, and Nunziata sat as an independent until this election. Even worse, in what amounts to a royal ‘pooch screw’ (pardon the terminology, folks), the Canadian dollar that was worth $1.06 US when Trudeau came to power with his array of social experiments, now has that same dollar limping at 64 cents US – a 40% loss in value. While I am a short-term beneficiary of that in I get paid in US dollars, there are a lot of people who are hurting needlessly and unnecessarily because of these experiments in social engineering.

The Canadian Alliance, headed by Stockwell Day (left), seems to offer a vision of a reduced role on the part of the federal government, and seeks to leave the majority of decisions to the individual provinces. This is not entirely unlike the issue of states’ rights pursuant to the Tenth Amendment of the United States Constitution. Such an idea is one whose time has clearly come in Canada, if for no other reason but to break the massive yoke thrust upon Canadian taxpayers by the gods of Ottawa.

• With file photos from the Canadian Press

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Copyright © 2000 by Timothy Rollins.
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-Published with permission