Yael Gang is a second-year journalism student who says another election would further distract politicians from serious issues affecting Canadians
Every morning when I flip on the news I feel like I’m watching a soap opera. But instead of getting to see good-looking girls fight over a handsome boy, all I get is Stephen Harper and Michael Ignatieff attacking each other while Canadians ask themselves: “Will we have another election this fall?”
The worst part is, we can’t just turn off the antics after an hour of drama and commercial breaks — Stephen and Iggy have been going at it for almost a year.
Last fall, we all (well, at least 59.1 per cent of us) made a trip to the polls. The Canadian people spoke and Harper was re-elected as prime minister with a minority government.
Since then, the House of Commons has been functioning more like a sorority house than a government body. The way the opposition parties formed a coalition to gang up on Harper back in December was shockingly similar to the way high-school frenemies form cliques to bring down a rival. And the Conservatives have been running smear ads attacking Iggy’s past the way gossipers go about exposing everyone’s dirty little secrets.
To top it off, after a year of shenanigans, Iggy is threatening to bring about Canada’s fourth election in less than six years. The Bloc has stalled this possibility for now, promising to support the Sept. 18 budget. But in a few weeks the Liberals might have another chance to lead a vote of non-confidence.
Another federal election is completely unmerited.
For starters, there is no issue big enough to warrant a change in government right now. Of course, there is employment insurance, which has been a hot topic recently. But the government and opposition can reform this system without dissolving parliament. Calling an election over this problem would mean taking the easy way out instead of facing it together. If another issue arises this time next year that our leaders can’t agree on, will they just call another election?
Polls currently indicate that Harper would likely win a minority again (I guess deep down we are all just suckers for the way his sweater vests bring out his dreamy ocean-blue eyes). So if Parliament is going to function properly, politicians will ultimately need to suck it up and learn how to work together.
Another election would just waste time and money and Canadians don’t want to foot the bill. The initial attempt to topple Harper’s regime last year stemmed from an accusation that he was not dealing properly with Canada’s economy, so it’s ironic that the opposition says the solution to its lack of trust in Harper is to take a chunk of money that could be invested elsewhere and waste it on an election.
On top of throwing away Canadians’ money, the drama and pre-occupation with an election are taking politicians’ minds off of other important issues. There are big concerns being set aside like poverty, the impending water crisis, Aboriginal land claims, crime and much more. Plus drama on Parliament Hill always has potential to affect citizens of Ottawa in particular.
We all remember how the bus strike made life extremely difficult last year. While we were trekking to school trying to avoid the cold air giving us frostbite, our politicians were too busy blowing hot air to deal with the strike. We had to wait until Parliament resumed before we got our transportation back. If another crisis hits this school year, we don’t want the government to be too busy bickering to help.
An election would only allow politicians to further put the people on the sidelines while they go on ripping each other’s throats and pulling out each other’s hair.
I don’t want to sound like a hippie or anything, but seriously, our leaders need to stop fighting and work together.
Another election is not the answer. If Canadians wanted all this drama we would have elected Chuck Bass as prime minister and selected the rest of the Gossip Girl cast to be our MPs.