EDITORIAL:
Apples to apples
by Brandon Mayer
A historic election has come and gone. What do the results mean for North Dundas? Simply put, many will try to argue one way or another based on a partisan stance, but no one can really know what the future will bring.
North Dundas – as part of Stormont, Dundas & Glengarry – has re-elected Eric Duncan from the Conservative Party of Canada. While it was a clear win for MP Duncan, the Liberal candidate Sarah Good had no shortage of votes either.
For nearly a decade, there has been very little that our Conservative MP could do for us, even though he is a South Mountain native and long time North Dundas local. With the Liberals in power with a majority for so long, the only thing the opposition Conservative party could do was sit back and critique, mostly in vain.
Now, with the Liberals back in but with a minority regime, we could see one of two things. The first is that instead of Conservative and NDP Members of Parliament just spinning their wheels, we could see all MPs having a hard time representing their constituents, with no single party having the proper teeth in the House of Commons to be able to pass any legislation. The other possibility is that constituents in some ridings – perhaps even ours – will finally have a say in Parliament if MPs from two or more parties can agree on a bill.
I was (humorously) called a coward last week in a conversation with a local resident, when I told him that I would be leaving the political commentary up to our columnist, Kerry Turner. It’s true that I shied away from taking any direct position leading up to the election, mostly because I believe the media should remain unbiased during election seasons. In this intentional shout out to the gentleman who accused me of cowardice, I will provide my opinion… finally.
I believe Canada chose wrong. Based on our election of Eric Duncan – who is a very good man – I assume that many of you reading this also believe that Canada chose wrong. I can’t be the only one who has seen, in the last decade, the insanity of current grocery prices, gas prices, and housing prices. I can’t be the only one who cringes at our catch and release approach to crime, and I certainly can’t be the only who sees the constant financial waste at the federal government level. We’ve had 10 years to experience firsthand the Liberal government’s performance. To be blunt: it has been poor. And now… so are we.
The state of things in Canada is so bad that after 10 years in power, the Liberal party ran a campaign heavily focused on the need for change. They ousted Justin Trudeau, but only because he threatened their desperate cling to power with his fully deserved lack of popularity. And then Mark Carney ran on a promise of change, and Canada re-elected a government with a nearly 10 year tenure in the name of “change”. Mark Carney was an advisor to Justin Trudeau through much of the fiasco that has seen Canadians working multiple jobs just to eat. We normally compare apples to oranges in an election, but instead many voters got caught up on comparing apples to apples – namely Justin Trudeau and his counterpart, Mark Carney.
My opinion may differ from yours. I wholeheartedly reject the idea that those who vote Conservative are backwards thinkers. Those of us who voted Conservative elected Eric Duncan, who is openly gay. One does not have to be a bigot to desire affordable groceries and sensible housing. It’s unfair to paint Conservative voters as unsupportive of equity and human rights.
Besides sensible government, I also believe in democracy. Mark Carney is the prime minister of Canada, fairly elected. Anyone who uses the phrase “not my prime minister”, or believes that the election results should bend to their own personal world view, is not respecting the values of our great democracy. I may think that a significant portion of the Canadian voter base is naïve, unintelligent, ill-informed and lacking in common sense, but I also fundamentally believe that it is their right to posses all of those traits, and to mark their ballot with whichever name they damn well wish. The Liberals won the political game this time. No one likes a sore loser.
I would like to be able to say that “at least the will of the majority was done”, but of course, it wasn’t. The Liberal party won the election with less than half the votes, as is fairly common in this country due to the “first past the post” system. It is unlikely that we will last 4 years until the next election, since minority governments have very little traction.
Locally, we are well served. Eric Duncan may not be able to do much in the House of Commons as a member of the non-ruling party, but it’s certain that he will continue going above and beyond for residents of SD&G. He will run passport clinics, he will organize events, he will make surprise appearances for local causes and he will continue caring about SD&G in a way that few others can.
When it comes to politics, it’s best to keep an open mind. I met Sarah Good at the North Dundas Business Expo, as many readers likely did as well. A member of her campaign team – Tracy Champagne – was my grade 7 and 8 teacher, and we caught up with each other and shared a hug. I don’t believe politics should ever get in the way of our humanness. I was very glad to see my former teacher, and I believe that people with vastly different beliefs can not only coexist, but also thrive in the same environment. Whatever our beliefs, we are all on the same path now. None of us are driving the ship, so we must continue to hope for competence in those that are at the helm.