Meanwhile in Canada...

Canada is gearing up for a national election. While every eligible voter in the US casts a ballot for the President (and for the majority of eligible voters it's mostly a symbolic gesture because of the electoral college), voters in a parliamentary system, like Canada's, cast votes for their MPs, or members of parliament. Votes cast may be influenced by who party leaders are at the time of election, as they'll be the Prime Minister if that party gets the majority of seats. 

So, which party, and leader, will end up with a majority (or close to one)? Let's take a look at the options:

The Liberal Party led by Mark Carney 

Mark's never been an MP, and he's not currently an MP but his credentials for running a political party and country are:

Governing the Bank of Canada

Governing the Bank of England. During Brexit.

He has these origin stories of working a paper route in Edmonton, going to Harvard on scholarship, taking a job at Goldman and Sachs to pay his student loan debts, and then "sacrificing" a Goldman and Sachs salary+bonus in 2003 to work for the Bank of Canada as deputy governor before becoming its governor. He describes this not quite as a calling, but there's a hint of patriotic chest thumping in his recounting of this transition; I wonder if he had some idea of a little mortgage bubble that was about to pop all over the world. That being said, as Governor, through some non-conventional choices, Carney helped Canada recover from that financial oopsy faster than some other affected nations. Or at least he was PR-savy enough to strongly associate his name, and his tenure as governor with the fact that Canadian tax payer dollars were not needed to bail out any Canadian banks.

Then the Bank of England came calling, and he answered. He took the post in 2013 and was the first non-British person to do so in the Bank's entire history of existence. 

He made some interesting decisions of *checks notes* speaking common sense and reminding Brexit voters that a "leave" vote could have repurcussions for the island nations's economy. He left the post in the spring of 2020, possibly worn out by managing an economy during a pandemic while Boris Johnson and his frat boys were wheeling in suitcases of vodka. 

In 2019 he became the UN special envoy for climate change and in 2021 he launched the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ), a grouping of banks and financial institutions to combat climate change. 

Some sound bytes include mentioning a "moral" component to banking, and financial management, but also that government should not be the means for solving everyone's problems.

And in the right corner we have The Conservative Party and their pick: Pierre Poilievre.

This is a party that, as far as I can see, has made a platform out of a phobia to government spending, taxes, especially taxes levied upon corporations, and businesses. Environmental concerns, special considerations given to First Nations communities, and other social justice ideology seems distasteful to this party and what really sticks in their craw is any notion of decoupling the Canadian economy from oil. I'm sure this has nothing to do with their unofficial headquarters being the province of Alberta, land of oil pumps and tar sands. I get a whiff of xenophobic nationalism, but that may be because I get a whiff of xenophobic nationalism from just about every conservative political party. Where the conservatives of Canada diverge from their lunatic brethren to the South is identity politics. So far, SO FAR, The Conservative Party has not made their views on abortion, or LGBTQ rights, an official part of their platform.

Pierre Poilievre brags that he hasn't change his politics and moral views since he was 14; the dude's currently 45, A LOT has changed. He's also quoted as being a fan of "straight talk," a phrase that makes me throw up a little. He justified this by saying "when politenesss is in conflict with the truth, I choose the truth."

But the quote from Pierre that rattles me is:

"I have always believed that it is voluntary generosity among family and community that are the greatest social safety net that we can ever have."

Ya hear that, Canada? That's your healthcare being switched over to GoFundMe campaigns, ask me what that's like.

I am deeply concerned that Mark Carney, sane, sensible, competent, capable, boring, and The Liberal Party at large, is going to lose. And I'm even more concerned that they're going to lose by a lot.

Call me traumatized, triggered, or jaded. But the results of the 2024 United States elections, which returned Donald Trump to the Oval Office with JD Vance as his VP, a GOP majority in both houses, and 3 out of 9 SCOTUS justices seated by the lunatic, kinda, you know, gave me a reason to feel this way. 

While Canada is not the US (despite what our elderly demented commander in chief may believe),

Canadians are experiencing an affordability and housing crisis and have felt a stagnation in purchasing power affecting the quality of life since before the pandemic.

Just like their neighbours on the other side of the Great Lakes, I think Canadians are hungry for something to change, and for their elected leaders to recognize and speak to that. Is Mark Carney able to deliver that message? 

I'll say it for him:

Friends, family, I know it's hard, I know this is not the life you thought you'd be living as you graduated Uni, got jobs, and the anticipation of the rewards of being an adult set in. You thought you'd be married and living in a spacious home with your children. You were told that 2 cars in the garage, an annual winter trip to Mexico, and a gold lab were the signs of success. But right now all of that is far from attainable, especially in cities that seem like The Place to Be. You want to give your loved ones the best life you can, to set them up for success and independence, and in the bigger picture, maybe you want Canada to have more of a presence on the world stage, and for someone to finally kick Donald Trump in the ass (I would also like that).

The Liberals, under Trudeau, have been in charge for 10 years and you might think it's time for a change, give the Conservatives a chance and see if that works better.

It won't.

Sure, a vote for the Liberal party may be a vote to keep treading water. It's also a vote for actual policies, a vote for decency, and a vote for a party that will follow the rule of law, and will hear you, and be responsive to you.

A vote for The Conservative party will not give you what you want, or need. It's not even a gamble, it's a vote that demonstrates a lack of belief in the theory, "the whole is greater than the sum of its parts." 

A Conservative government may reduce your taxes, overall, and you will swiftly see what those taxes paid for: road repairs, public transportation, emergency services, education, public health services, housing, armed services, among others. 

Pierre flat out said it: "voluntary generosity among family and community." That's lovely, and nice, and it's going to have far less ability than a coordinated effort at a provincial and federal level. Again, ask me how I know, actually, fuck that, take a look at how the WORLD, including Canada is finding out the fuck arounds of dismantling government agencies that dispensed aid at large. If Pierre and his Conservative party has their way, you will have voted to have 2 nails, and no boards to nail them into.