My political views have been shampooed, conditioned and shaped by various factors - including my social, economic and religious background, education, spiritual reflection and life experiences. They are not static and unchangeable. I have come from originally supporting the Canadian Alliance and then Conservatives, for social, moral and personality reasons, as well as in reaction to the seemingly corrupt and arrogant Liberals. Through my wrestling with the importance of having an environmental conscience for God's creation (our life-support system), which should underlie all economic growth and development, I came to consider myself a "Green Tory" or liberal-Conservative in university, who wanted to put the "conserve" back into Conservative. I soon started flirting with the Green Party as well (a radical heresy I once thought to myself).
But ever since the Conservatives became the Government in 2006, I experienced extreme disillusionment with both the Party and my supposed conservative values, while I began to feel... enlightened I guess you could say, in regards to many things in my own life and what I actually believed to be important in life and in society more generally. The Conservatives did not seem to be 'on about' anything I could now legitimately care passionately for as a Christian or environmentalist - some of them claimed to be opposed to abortion and other such 'liberal' social problems- but then why don't they care for life consistently, for people during the rest of their lives?
I was propelled into the visionary, common-sense idealism of the Green movement, which refused to be pigeonholed as either Left or Right ideologically, which pragmatically offered solutions for all to consider. As a global movement, Greens think beyond the considerations of just our province or our country. All Green Parties hold to 6 fundamental values:
- ecological wisdom
- non-violence
- social justice
- sustainability
- participatory democracy
- respect for diversity
1) Electoral dysfunction (lack of proportional and participatory democracy in Canada) has made it more and more difficult for Canadians to feel their votes actually make a difference, or that the results are unfair. Since we currently have only once choice in voting, when there is a close race between only 2 candidates, it seems more logical to vote against one if you really do not want them to win, than to vote for another 3rd or 4th candidate who has no chance of winning. This is strategic voting, which I also was opposed to until this current election has made it necessary for me to reconsider, for good reason... this leads me directly to:
2) This purpose for this election, unfortunately, is primarily a vote for or against the "Harper Government", as it has been officially rebranded by our humble and fearless leader. Stephen Harper has lied so many times to the Canadian people, and to our Parliament, since becoming Prime Minister it is hard to keep track. His fear of the Canadian people is evident by how closely he tries to keep things secret from the public and from Parliament, despite breaking constitutional rules in doing so - Afghan detainee abuse secrets, military expense secrets, etc.- to the point of his party being legitimately found in "contempt of Parliament", for the first time in the history of the Commonwealth. His flagrance towards, and disregard for, our system of parliamentary democracy is screaming out as he muzzles his own cabinet, and after trying to financially destroy the other parties, claims that it is recklessly unconstitutional and wrong for the majority of democratic representatives to cooperate together, and out of necessity, try to form an alternative government to his own. This is thinly-veiled autocracy (and he doesn't even have a majority government yet!)
This Government has done its utmost to stall any progress on combating global climate change, thereby becoming climate criminals of the future generation. There is no issue more grave for our short-sighted politicians to act on than protecting our planet's capability to support this project we call human civilization (or at least "Western Civilization", right conservatives?). We are literally in the midst of an age of species extinction, with 90% of the ocean's large fish now gone, and 50% of all animals and plant species disappearing this century.
"But all I want are tax cuts for big corporations, and to use up our limited natural resources as quick as we can... and to lock up more unruly youth in prisons!" says Harper's fantasy of the Canadian public.
In my opinion, Stephen Harper's moralistic self-righteous political attitude reeks of hypocrisy- henceforth to be known as 'Harpercrisy'? - as he rules according to Machiavellian principles of deceit, cunning and subterfuge, happy to break his own laws whenever it pleases him (He passed a good law of fixed election dates in 2007 that he then broke in 2008 in order to take advantage of a weakened Liberal Party, in case we have forgotten). The Conservative Party attack ads and tactics are as cheap and false as they can possibly be, daily reinforcing my disdain for them every time I have to hear them.
I will repeat the lament of Rafe Mair, former BC Minister of Environment and radio talk show host,
"Is this what we're going to support?
A party in contempt of Parliament?
A party that directly participates in the decimation of our wild salmon, the soul and symbol of British Columbia?
A party quite willing to sacrifice our resources so that the U.S. can have cheaper energy?
What's a Tory majority going to do for you (no need to answer if you're a big corporation) that makes you want to support them?"
