A few people have been subtly, or not so subtly, complaining that I haven’t written much nice about the Liberals of late. Believe me, I’m been trying to come up with something nice to say about this campaign, especially as the prospect of a Harper majority becomes more and more real.
While it’s really hard to come up with anything positive to say about this campaign, I will give four reasons, on the policy front, why I don’t want to see a Harper majority.
1. Gun Registry: This one is contentious, even for Liberals in Alberta. But the two overriding issues which drove me to the Liberal Party when I first got involved were national unity and gun control so it’s an issue I feel strongly about. Harper has said on numerous times that he’d scrap the gun registry, something which hasn’t gotten much attention, despite all the emphasis on gun violence this campaign. I detailed why I support the gun registry a while ago. Yes, there have been cost overruns, but I still think the benefits outweigh the expenses.
2. Star Wars: We’ve had years of debate on this, and six movies, but Harper seems to want to bring the topic of Star Wars back to the forefront. Personally, I don’t feel exceedingly strongly about this topic and I’ll agree Martin and McKenna really mishandled the announcement of the decision last spring. But the system will never work and I see very few benefits of joining.
3. Same Sex Marriage: Is there anyone in Canada who can honestly say that their life has gotten worse over the past year, merely because they know that gays can legally wed in Canada? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?
The only thing revisiting this question will do is cause a legal mess full of Supreme Court challenges and confusion. Even Harper must realize this. The fact of the matter is, Same Sex marriage was the right decision, regardless of what the Supreme Court said.
4. Kyoto: I haven’t written much on Kyoto in the past so I actually have to come up with some new content for this policy which is a bit of a drag. Let me just say that global warming is a real problem and Canada should do its fair share to reduce emissions. While we aren’t likely to meet our target, I feel that having a target gives us something to aim towards. I also think that this will force us to research and refine more environmentally friendly technologies and energy sources which will actually help Canada economically in the long run. I’d like to see a much more comprehensive plan than what the Liberals have laid out so far, but I think there are benefits to staying in Kyoto and making an honest effort to meet the targets, especially since we’ve signed the deal.
So that’s my salespitch to the disgruntled Liberal voter in a swing Tory/Liberal riding, who’s worried about a Conservative majority. I don’t think Harper has a “hidden agenda” or any of that nonsense, but these are four points in his “wide in the open agenda” that people should consider. And maybe, these are four points Martin should have tried to emphasize instead of baseless fear mongering.