So the world didn't end, the sun came up the next day and all, while not exactly right with the world, is at least in some kind of balance. The Liberals didn't implode, the Conservatives don't dominate, the Bloc is fragmenting, and the Greens hold on to a solid share of the vote (albeit <5%).
Harper is looking to bring in Meech and Charletown without taking it to the people (yeah, it's in the platform they released during the campaign). These changes might be enough to stunt separatist feeling in Quebec--but then, they might not. Increased provincial control--and the right to send representatives from Quebec to international organizations--reps with powers and standing on par with the federal Canadian rep--may well serve to feed the belief that Quebec really is a country. And frankly, it's not. It is only one of three founders of Canada, and would turn into Louisiana within two generations were they to separate. But cold reason never affected nationalist feeling, did it? If it did, Canadians wouldn't still believe that we are a sovereign nation....
Frankly it is way past time for a democratic revolution in this country. There is some whining that the three major urban areas denied the Conservatives their victory. Get over it; those three urban areas hold over half the citizens of this country.
Canadians progressively vote more and more on issues rather than for parties: Conservative policies and issues just don't resonate with enough Canadians at this point. And when we look south at how their policies would play out, we run pretty scared. But we don't vote for anyone. Rather, we vote for those we feel would do the least harm. Look for Harper to try the same propaganda attack used by the Americans--raise the fear level and offer yourself as a simple solution to the invented threat. I don't really expect it to work--after all it didn't work during Meech and Charletown--but I do expect it to be tried. Well, it might be democracy, but it is a pretty shabby version of it.....
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