Election Day in Canada

 I think it has become a tradition here to say at every election that I have never before cast a vote with less - I don't know- enthusiasm, perhaps?  And it is true. For almost almost every election I feel less and less as though I am voting for something, only more as though I am voting against something worse. And my feelings for this election are as though it were still on that trajectory, but at least two elections into the future.

This vote was not necessary.  We had an election two years ago, and the people returned a minority government.  There was no government defeat in the house, no pressing issue.  The polls showed that the Liberals had a chance to turn their minority into a majority, so the Prime Minister called an election. That is all this election was, its core issue: an opportunistic power grab. 

But, fortunately, this may turn out to bite the Prime Minister in the posterior, and I regard that as a good thing.  Had he any other last name, he would still be a mediocre drama teacher and snowboard instructor.  There has been no one less qualified to hold high government position since Caligula elevated his horse to the Senate. If he loses this election, and there is a good chance he might, then it is likely his career is over.  The two main parties do not take loss lightly, nor do they forgive it. The prevailing practice these days is the polite equivalent of taking the losing leader out to a field somewhere and shooting him in the back of the head.

If nothing else is achieved, it is my hope that the incumbent in my riding will finally be defeated.  I hardly care who defeats her, as long as she is gone.  The Liberals have had such a stranglehold on my riding for decades that the election of our candidate is a mere formality.  Being such a safe riding, our liberal representative often tends to be arrogant and assumes a right to our support, rather than a belief that they need to earn it. Provincially, the Liberals lost this seat in the last provincial election (the candidate was the federal MP's daughter- she used her influence to get her kid the nomination, and the kid was slaughtered in the polls and came in a very distant third) so the seat may be vulnerable.

So, that's my best hope for this election- get rid of our current Prime Minister, and get rid of the incumbent in my riding. It hardly matters who replaces them at this point.