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Dear Canadian Politician,

I am an average voter, quietly paying my taxes and trying to get through the recession. I have voted in almost every election – federal, provincial and municipal – for which I was eligible. Politics is kind of a passion for me and I worry that many of my contemporaries are completely uninterested in what you (and their tax dollars) are doing in Ottawa. In spite of my own interest in politics, I hope that we are not subjected to a federal election any time soon. It is not that I totally approve of the minority government’s performance. Voting for any of you right now would require the largest clothespin my nose could accommodate and I don’t know that it could stand the pinch.

Prime Minister Harper, with the consent of the Governor General, recently made the decision to prorogue Parliament until March. In spite of vigorous hand wringing by the opposing parties and the media, half of Canadians do not care. The other half might care but realize there is nothing to be done about it. Some say that Canadians are lazy and apathetic; they simply do not care about politics or voting. I think that the truth is more depressing. The average voter is just tired of the scandals, failures, in-fighting, pork-barreling, sniping and naked self-interest of most career politicians, regardless of political stripe. We are overcome with the futility of it all, sick of watching the same old game show. We’ve tuned you out until there’s a programming change.

The majority of the political class appears to have lost touch with what it means to govern as representatives of the people. The idea that you were elected to represent us is not some quaint nicety. It should not be national news if one of you votes according to the wishes of your constituents. That’s why we voted for you – remember? You said that if we chose you, you would represent our concerns. It’s really quite simple. Why are the party leaders more concerned with making sure politicians toe the party line? I hope it isn’t because you feel that your party is more important than the country. The cost of representing one’s constituents should not be banishment to the backbenches.

Now, I beg your indulgence for a moment while I share some thoughts with each party. No snickering in the background – I have something to say to each of you.

To the Conservatives: Do not be too quick to take credit for the economy and the fact that things could have been worse. You didn’t see the collapse coming and you have little influence over its end. On a more positive note, you haven’t tinkered much with social policy lately, and that is probably a good thing. Overall though, it is hard to critique your performance because no one really knows what you are up to. You seem to have fired, ignored, or otherwise shuffled off most of the watchdogs and your MP’s aren’t the chatty sort. Someone needs to flip you over so we can see how many long-legged slimy things come scuttling out.

To the Liberals: I am not near ready to see you back in power yet. If you were to spend half the energy you do on in-fighting and backstabbing on actually working for the betterment of the country, then you might get voters to care about you again. You need a stronger platform than “we’re not the Conservatives”. No one (except maybe the other parties) wants to watch your internal car-wreck play out on the news every night. You are Her Majesty’s Loyal Opposition – don’t just critique the Conservatives; come up with some viable alternatives.

A lot of us are old enough to remember the games your party played when the right was fractured. Turnabout is fair play, so enough with the name-calling and pouting. The prorogation is done so use this time to convince us that you are actually a viable alternative.

To the NDP: What happened to you? I used to think of you as the union-loving tree-hugger party, but since you and Buzz broke up and the Greens sprouted, I am not sure what you have left. On paper, some of your policies look good, but I worry that if you were ever handed the reins of power we would be broke in a week.

To the Bloc: At least you wear your self-interest on your sleeve. Still, I wish you would go away. You are the thirty-five year old who lives in his mother’s basement moaning about a lack of independence, yet continues to drive the car, eat out of the fridge and do your laundry for free. On top of that, you need to be patted on the head every day and told that you’re special.

To the Greens: I admire that you have a female leader and you are trying. Keep it up, but try not to be a one-trick pony. It is nice that you want to “turn blue collar work into green collar jobs”, but how will you move past the slogan? Will a vote for you be a vote against my own family’s security?

What would I do if the election were held tomorrow? I am not someone who just votes the way her daddy and grand-daddy did and I do not blindly follow regional stereotypes. I am open to change – desperate for it, in fact – and am waiting for one of you to present me with a viable, compelling alternative. The Canadian voter is looking for inspiration.

I recognize that many of you up on Parliament Hill do care a great deal about Canada, as do the little people out here in the electorate. I apologize if my perceptions of you are wrong – the popular media is often the only lens through which I can study you. Please stop wasting your considerable talents on muck-raking and navel-gazing. The next time I go to the polls I want to leave my clothespin at home.

Sincerely,

Canadian Voter

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 19th, 2010 at 11:00 pm and is filed under Federal Government. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.