Clouds of Conservatism Engulf Canadian Democracy

While one of the worst dust storms of the year clouded the Korean skies, Canada's democracy has found itself shrouded in a cloud of conservatism.

The election of the Conservative party to majority government status has been, for me, so depressing that I could not write about it until now.  I can only imagine what damage this government will do to my country in the next four years.  And I cannot for the life of me understand what could have possessed the Canadian electorate to re-elect a political party that was TWICE cited in contempt of Parliament by the speaker of the House of Commons!!!  It makes me think that Canadians quite frankly don't care for their democracy anymore.

Thankfully, there are reasons for me to think that I'm jumping to conclusions on this matter.  Already the CBC has reported that the Conservative party may not be re-elected in four years, as Canadians voted for the party mostly for its economic policies, but "don't want (...) bold or radical policy changes in areas outside the economy".  And an analysis of the popular vote has revealed that a Parliament that truly reflected the political leanings of the majority of Canadian voters would not be in the control of the Conservative party.  Unfortunately, Canada's outdated "first-past-the-post" electoral system has resulted in a Parliament in which opposition parties will have virtually no power for the next four years.  The only effective opposition to the Conservatives will have to play itself out in protests and in strikes.  Thankfully, Canadians have demonstrated in the past their ability to oppose unpopular governments by taking to the streets.


Watching this election from Korea, I came to believe that the media played an important role in determining its outcome.

First of all, it seems obvious to me that the CBC's refusal to allow Elizabeth May, the leader of Canada's Green party, to participate in the nationally televised party leaders' debates has had a negative impact on the Green party's popularity within the Canadian electorate.  During the 2008 election campaign, Ms. May participated in the debates.  But this year, in a bizarre about-face, the CBC refused to allow her to participate owing to the fact that her party had no seats in the House of Commons.  But her party did receive, during the 2008 election, approximately 7% of the popular vote.  It can therefore be concluded that Canadian voters believe that the Greens are a credible political formation.  During this election, the popular vote of the Green party shrunk, and, on election night, Ms. May herself placed part of the responsibility for this development on the CBC when she was interviewed in her riding, having become the first Green party politician to be elected to Parliament in Canada.  (By the way, it made me smile to see both her interviewer and Peter Mansbridge play nicey-nice with her after she called the CBC to task.)  As a public broadcaster, the CBC should be allowing people to participate in the leader's debates as a function of the popular vote that their party secures.  In this way, political debate in Canada would be broadened, and a richer diversity of options could be made available to the Canadian electorate at voting time.  But the top boss of the CBC is, after all, appointed by the Canadian government, and Canada's dominant political parties obviously have no interest in giving the Canadian electorate the option of voting for other political parties...

Secondly, I followed the coverage of this election in both the French- and the English-Canadian press.  I find it difficult to imagine how coverage of the election campaign in Canada's two official languages could have been more different.  Since the beginning of the campaign, the French-Canadian press was busy analyzing, and denouncing, all of the backwards policies enacted by the Conservatives during their already-too-long turn in office.  Everything was written about, from the ridiculous religious views of some Conservative MP's to the G20 debacle, without forgetting that the previous Conservative government was twice cited in contempt of Parliament by the speaker of the House of Commons.  Meanwhile, in the English Canadian press, the Conservative party was endorsed as the only party to "have shown the leadership, the bullheadedness (let's call it what it is) and the discipline this country needs."  Really?  Canada needs "bull-headed leadership"?  What are we, a bunch of sheep?  And leadership to where, exactly?  In Québec, the electorate was tired of the Bloc Québécois.  So, they voted massively for the NDP, probably thinking that English Canadians would do the same given the Conservative party's dismal track record in Parliament and the poor performance of the Liberal party as official opposition during the previous years.  I think that many citizens of Québec have been disappointed by the results of the last election, and some have already written so.  And this may have serious consequences for the unity of Canada in the future...