ex malo bonum

 

As my regular readers know, last night I conked out around 9pm and was asleep until my morning meds alarm went off. That was a lovely sleep. I never woke up once during the night, not even when Jerry moved around and plopped onto my tummy. Today is a little better than earlier in the week. I had an afternoon nap, and I'm feeling rested.. The tiny dictator is in snuggle mode, and is moving back and forth in search of a tummy massage.

I met a friend and former work colleague for breakfast this morning. So great to catch up with friends, particularly after almost 2 years. In fact, the last time I saw this friend was back in December 2019 when I was doing chemotherapy. I remember, because it was the day that I had shaved my hair after I'd started losing it, and I ran into her on my way home. Isn't it funny how we remember certain connections?

Ok, so I have a controversial topic to discuss. Please feel free to jump in and comment; and I don't need to tell you to keep the conversation PG at its saltiest! You've been warned!

As you've probably heard by now, we have an election happening in Canada next month. This means that for the next 6 weeks or so we'll be inundated with campaign ads. The problem with this is that the ads portray the worst of the parties and candidates. They are almost all filled with negativity and ad hominem attacks on their opponents. And the various attack ads on party leaders. How I dislike them!

The supportive ads from the parties for their leaders are almost, without exception, saccharine sweet and syrupy. Each of them is suddenly endowed with attributes that are never seen otherwise. I find it hard to reconcile the man in the ad with the man at the mic or the one at question period for the past 2-3 years.

The promises have already started to grow faster than a river in a string thaw. Each party, which wants to govern, is making vows that-no real surprise here- they won't keep. Yet people will go into heated arguments about how their preferred candidate is being unfairly treated by the press.. And how their sleazy, underhanded opponent is getting away with lies.

Bear in mind a few things as we go through this election period:

• No politician will EVER carry out all their election promises. So it's necessary to take them with a kilo of salt.
• No matter how much you like or dislike them, no politician has the power or ability to reform the government or the electoral system. They won't, because that's how they got elected, so why risk losing the next election? It's a non-starter.
• So too are promises to cut taxes. They may introduce a small, temporary (really!!) credit; taxpayers get a cheque of their own money so that they feel like they've got something "back." But after the campaign is done, the taxes creep up again. Remember how income tax was a "temporary" measure? It was the Income War Tax Act (1917). Anyone who believes that any government will meaningfully reduce taxes-well, I have some beachfront property in Kabul for sale. 🤪
• Also, in Canada we don't vote for the Prime Minister. The PM is the leader of the party with the most seats after an election. So getting involved in arguments about the various leaders' personalities is pointless. Frankly, if I were t vote based on the leader, I'd probably write-in votes for Daenerys Targarian or Khal Drogo! (Yes, gratuitous GOT reference there!) Seriously-the "[leader] is a corrupt liar and should be replaced" argument is a non-starter. Spare me that one, please!
• Elections one serious. Please go out and vote. So many people worked and fought for our right to vote-especially women and BIPO C, whose suffrage comes later than men's. I understand that there's a level of frustration because no party is perfect and things always seem to stay the same despite promises to change. I recommend that you don't expend too much effort on believing the promises made by politicians.

I was asked by one friend, "who should I vote for?" My response was, "Vote for the candidate in your area who best matches your views.” I make that recommendation because the local candidate is the person who can effect change in your area that can affect you directly. So ignore all the ads about the leaders. You aren't choosing them, unless they also happen to be the candidate in our area, in which case the rule about the local candidates applies.

Ok that's my input on elections. I look forward to your comments either here or to my email.  Good night