Dion vs Harper


If I had to cast my ballot today in the next federal election, I'd be voting Conservative.

In reality that vote is months, maybe even a year, away. I can't predict how or even if I will vote then. All I know for sure is that I will spend a lot of time thinking about it, and talk to a lot of people about what they think.

Yesterday Stephane Dion defeated Michael Ignatieff for leadership of the Liberal Party of Canada. I was worried Ignatieff wasn't going to win, after his amateurish and embarrassing flip flop on Lebanon. But he recovered and re-established himself as the front runner in the last few weeks. So I still had hope as they went into the last ballot. For his part Dion ran a classic come from behind campaign, and in terms of appealing to the delegates, made no mistakes.

Right now Islamist terrorism and the war in Afghanistan are the major issues that motivate me to vote in the federal elections. Pollution, conservation, health care and crime are a bit lower on my list. I'm a bystander when it comes to global warming, national unity, trade or the budget. Not even on the table in the federal debate are the projects I think are most important in the long run: direct democracy, a United States of North America, world socialism.

So, at this moment, if I have to choose between Prime Minister Stephen Harper's Conservatives and Dion's Liberals, I'm looking at where they stand on Canada's role in Kandahar. Dion is equivocating, calling for the withdrawal of troops because the mission is "ill-conceived and misguided" while proposing a Marshall plan in the wake of our evacuation. Harper is not yet ready to throw in the towel. I agree with Dion about legitimating the opium crop, but think he is pandering to anti-war sentiment by distancing himself from a war he supported in cabinet.

From a leadership campaign through an election and then into power or opposition, the statements of politicians warp and mutate. Dion is a smart politician. It's possible he may come up with a strategy for winning in Afghanistan while defeating the Conservatives at home. If he does he'd probably have my support. If Afghanistan weren't an issue I'd be looking to defeat the Conservatives because of their misguided anti-crime legislation. We don't need more laws and longer prison sentences. We need more police and intelligence agents and an end to the war against drugs.

I wonder what Ignatieff is going to do now. If I were him I wouldn't stay in parliament if Dion is serious about withdrawal. If he stays it should be as the Liberal spokesperson on foreign affairs and Dion should use him to make the case for winning the war.

Posted: Sun - December 3, 2006 at 01:48 PM          

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