When the government fell on Monday and Parliament was dissolved the following day, many Canadians’ worst nightmare had finally come true. We are faced with a campaign and an election in the dead of Canadian winter. To make matters worse, Christmas falls almost smack dab in the middle of the 56 day campaign. Horrors.
The vote last Monday was an historic occasion. For the first time in our history, a government fell on a straightforward vote of non confidence. Previously, minority governments have only been defeated on money bills that under our parliamentary system are treated as votes of non confidence. Years from now, when the government of Paul Martin Jr. is reduced to a paragraph in the history books, this vote will likely be mentioned. But the vote that brought down the most corrupt government in Canadian history seems secondary to the fact that we are going to the polls during the winter.
The media seems almost obsessed with the fact that Canadians have to trudge to the polls in the dark days of January. Candidates are being given advice on how to dress as if they have never before ventured out into the cold before. The biggest complaints about a winter election come not from the candidates or their hardworking campaign workers but from those whose only election activity will be to walk a block to the polling station and vote for a party that they don’t particulary like. These people should try and take their mind off the weather by getting a life.
The last time that we had a winter election was after the short-lived government of Joe Clark was dissolved. The government brought in a budget on December 11, 1979 and two days later an obscure NDP Ontario MP named Bob Rae moved a motion to defeat it. The government fell and an election was called for February 18, 1980.
Back in those olden days; when men were men and women were trying to be men, no one panicked over the fact that an election campaign was going to take place in middle of winter. There was no panic about how the campaign would end Christmas as we know it; the parties just quietly got together and agreed that they would cease all campaign activities between December 23 and January 1. Now, many Canadians seem to have a real fear of canvassers showing up at the doorstep or following Santa down the chimney on Christmas Eve. Toronto city councillor, Giorgio Mammoliti wants to introduce a motion forbidding electioneering around Christmas time. Forgetting about the legality of the kiddies at city hall attempting to control the democratic process of the federal government, none of the parties will campaign on or in the days surrounding December 25. Giorgio must be one of those Canadians who could benefit from acquiring a life.
The secular NDP has been screaming the loudest about a Christmas campaign. NDP leader Jack Layton is still going on and on and on about how Paul Martin could have avoided a Christmas campaign by following the will of Parliament by treating the motion of one of confidence but delaying the dissolution of the House until January. What Layton doesn’t seem to get is that there are just some things under our system that are the prerogative of the prime minister and setting an election date is one of them. But Jack can be forgiven for thinking that he should be able to call the shots. after all, Martin, one of if not the weakest leaders in Canadian history, practically let Layton run the show last spring, down to having his own budget passed.
Besides painting the leader of the Conservative Party as "Scary Stephen", Martin and the Liberals will campaign on how strong the economy has become and how good life has been under 12 years of Liberal rule. Corrupt as they are, the Liberals might have a point. If the worst tragedy that can befall this nation is having to go out in the snow to vote, life in Canada can’t be all that bad.
all this fuss about having a winter election just shows how easy we have it in this country. We haven’t had a tragedy of the proportion of the asian tsunamis, the Pakistani earthquake or the devastation brought by Hurricane Katrina so we have to invent disasters. and having a winter election seems to be one of them.
Global warming can’t come soon enough.