In a little over a week Canadians will be heading to the polls to elect our next federal government.
According to the Elections Canada website, we will have six candidates on our ballots in Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound:
Natasha Akiwenzie, for the Green Party, Ann Gillies, for the United Party of Canada (UP), Christopher Neudorf, of the New Democratic Party (NDP), incumbent Alex Ruff, from the Conservative Party, Pavel Smolko, of the People’s Party (PPC), and Anne Marie Watson, from the Liberal party.
For many Canadians, including residents of this riding, the traditional issues of the economy, cost of living, and healthcare are once again front and centre for voters in this election.
Around the time that the election was called on March 23, marketing intelligence company Narrative Research surveyed 1,231 Canadians about the key issues facing Canadian voters and found that the cost of living was the major issue for voters, with 67 percent of respondents identifying it as the prime issue. The trade war with the U.S. was also top concern for 53 percent of voters, and I suspect that number has grown over the past few weeks.
Housing affordability, improving the economy, and healthcare were three other key issues identified by voters in the survey for the coming election.
As I wrote in our March 27 print newspaper (The 3Rs…Rants, Raves & Rumours), unfortunately much of this election campaign will be, and has been, about the United States and current President Donald Trump, who has embarked on a trade war with Canada and Mexico, oh and Europe too. While he has been at it he has made repeated comments suggesting that Canada’s issues with the good ole USA could go away if we would simply agree to becoming the 51st state. Trump’s threats to our sovereignty and our economy have managed to bring opposing parties together in a united fight, and they have brought everyday Canadians together with an issue upon which we can all agree: Canada is not for sale. Canada will never be part of the United States. Canadians take our sovereignty seriously.
President Trump seems to have toned down his rhetoric when it comes to Canada after a phone call with newly minted Liberal party leader Mark Carney, and that has perhaps helped the Liberals to continue to grow their lead over the Conservatives, when prior to the resignation of Justin Trudeau, the Conservatives were well ahead of the Liberals in national polling, often by double digits.
Canadians are no doubt looking for a party and a leader that can effectively stand up to the American president. That seems to have helped to shift the results of national polling, which had suggested for the past year or more that the Conservative party would win the next election, and they would likely do so quite handily. But things have certainly changed. As I type this editorial in the early hours of Tuesday morning, the national polls are showing the Liberal party with a healthy lead at 44 percent, while the Conservatives who were well ahead of the Liberals just a few months ago are now trailing the Liberals at 37.8 percent.
As I wrote in our print newspaper last week, when it comes to politics there is no such thing as a sure thing, and voters can shift their support to a different party quickly. All of the chaos south of our border seems to have pulled Canadian voters away from the Conservatives and back to the Liberals, something I would not have predicted just a few months ago.
One thing that has been very clear during the first few weeks of the campaign period is that we Canadians are a polarized bunch, and many of the discussions that I have seen on local social media pages have been fierce and they have been at times nasty.
As useful as social media might be, there is a lack of sane, respectful discussion on most social media platforms. The camps are already formed, and you are either on the ‘right’ side or you are a mortal enemy. As a result there is rarely any civil discussion of the real issues facing Canadian voters, like the economy or cost of living. Instead you see a flood of most often inaccurate memes, plenty of name calling, along with a conspiracy or two.
Not exactly productive, and certainly not helpful for voters, particularly for those wanting to engage in discussion of real issues relevant to our riding, as those local issues quickly become drowned out by all of the chaotic and nasty nonsense.
I hate to be the ‘back in my day’ guy, but back in my day, folks on the right, the left, and anywhere in between could disagree on policy or issues while still maintaining respectful relations, heck they could even be good friends.
If you were to ask residents of Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound, regardless of their party affiliation, what their major issues are in this election, you would hear about the ever rising cost of living that has been crippling for many over the past few years. You would likely hear about just how difficult, if not impossible it has become to find an affordable place to live, and you would no doubt hear the concerns that many have about healthcare-related issues. No matter what party you support, you likely share these concerns as they impact us all, and that should be the focus of this election, and it should be the focus of discussions among voters whether on social media or the local coffee shop. We have more in common with each other than we might think, regardless of the party we might support.
The April 28 election day is fast approaching. Do your homework, seek out verified, trusted sources of information, and avoid the tit-for-tat meme wars on social media which mostly spread half-truths along with often blatantly false ‘facts’.
