The five-week campaign for Prime Minister is to start next week. That means five weeks of political bashing. Five weeks of lies and empty promises. Five weeks of unimportant dribble being spouted out by parties in every spectrum of the political elite. I for one am done with it.

I can no longer sit back and take this abuse of political power any longer. Millions of dollars spent on advertisements bashing a single proponent of the opposition’s case seems more like a highschool “he said, she said” battle than a political campaign. I would like to, instead see some real issues raised. Things like the Liberals in Ontario being as much to blame for the catastrophe of the G20 as Steven Harper.  Or maybe the lowest corporate tax for foreign corporations in any developed nation (sitting at approximately 16% at the moment). Or better yet, the lack of protection for Canadian businesses and the foreign investment (or ownership – however you want to think about it) being pushed then barely scrutinized by governmental offices who are supposed to govern it. Or, the coup d’etat, the potential merger of the TSX with the LSX – and who says we are free from colonialism?

There are a number of different ways to look at these issues. I, for one, would feel a lot more at ease if one – just one – party took the time to face these issues head on. Instead they will likely loom over the usual suspects: tax-cuts, environmental issues, and the economy. But let’s be honest here, the GDP does not – by any means – represent whether or not our country is doing well. It is instead a number, disconnected from the strifes of the common men and women of our country, that does not necessarily matter to anything but the business end of the world. Now it’s time to face the human end of things.

All these politicians keep talking about the future, so how about we do the same? University and college students cannot find decent summer jobs – fact. Student debts continue to rise, along with tuition, with little or nothing else to show for it – fact. It is now near impossible for graduated students to find decent jobs in their field with an undergrad – fact. Colleges and universities are operating more like a company with their billboards and advertisements than a place for higher learning (the classes even reflect that) – fact. Artists – the back bone of any civilization which are single handedly responsible for the origins of a country’s identity – are being destroyed with cuts to funding – fact. Foreign companies are being protected far more than any Canadian country – two acquisitions of over 10,000 of which have been stopped (remember Potash Co.?) – fact.

These are just a few problems that I – as a film student who would not write a script due tomorrow until I finished writing this – can point out in my everyday life. Whatever my issues may be, I know many others have their own. The one thing I can point out is that no politician or political party has any answers to my queries, nor do they have the respect for me to even begin to care about them – and I assume the same goes to you. So what do we do as caring citizens of Canada? Simple. Vote.

I have always followed politics and find it is the civic duty of any citizen of a democratic state to do the same. So, let my own lack of a voice be heard. I will go to the polls with my paper work and hand in an empty ballot. There is not one party that begins to represent any of my beliefs – and same with many of my family and friends’. I will no longer vote for the lesser of evils. I will no longer “throw my vote away”. I will no longer have the hope in empty promises, lies, or stretching of truths. I will show that I am distraught with the lack of true democracy and choice in this nation. I will stand up and not speak when told to – my lack of a voice will say more than any check-mark made in the ballot box.

I have hijacked my vote until my demands are met. Until they are, I have a message to Ignatieff, Harper, and Layton: Your millions spent on advertisements will not sway this voter, only the real issues will.

History is filled with change. Hopeful ideals have led the way to not only different philosophies and political regimes, but also radically progressive ways of thinking. From the French revolutionary period to the American revolution and even the baby boomer’s sexual revolution, certain instances have popped up where those young and old banned together to challenge the status quo put forth by those in power. We are now currently going through another of those times.

The baby boomers are slowly retiring giving way to new generations with different ideologies, separate perspectives, and new goals to reach. Cynicism can no longer be tolerated; where there is a will, there is always a way. Our guiding light throughout these times must be the hope we all share for a better tomorrow. The tomorrow we seek will be different from yesterday’s, but to understand the steps it will take, we must first look back and carefully analyze certain catalysts for today’s world. By doing so, we will not only understand where our society has gone wrong, but to what direction our path must be laid in order to reach the goals we all so desperately need.
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With the resumption of parliament only a few days away, most people are at the edge of their seats awaiting the new budget to be announced by Harper. To avoid a vote of confidence, we are expecting as much as a $30 Billion deficit, with spending on infrastructure, tax cuts, and employment insurance. Considering only a few months ago, Harper denied the allegations of Canada even being in a recession; this will be a major step towards fixing the economic hardships which we are all enduring. The idea is to put government spending towards the growth of the lower and middle classes to ensure consumer spending, thus kick-start the economy.

Thirty-billion dollars is a lot of money. What happens if this deficit occurs and no change is done to our economy? Worse, what happens if with this major spending and deficit, our country goes further into recession? Where is this money going to come from? Will Canada spiral further into debt? Could we face the ever growing fear of another depression?

While these questions linger on everyone’s mind, infrastructure plans need to be perfected, spending must occur, but at the same time futile transactions must stop; jobs need to be created. Money must be put into the hands of the consumers. Confidence in not only the economy, but also the corporations and companies that keep it running, must grow. How do we go about doing that? Economists from around the country are working around the clock to figure out plans to ensure the growth of our economy, but they are – in the end – trapped within a box of their own creation, unable to take a step away from it, to gain an outside perspective on things.
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Barack Obama Being Sworn in as President of the United States

It is inauguration day. Today, we watched history enfold itself. Today we watched a man dedicated to change, dedicated to a world of peace, dedicated to his fellow citizens stand and take power – not into his own hands, but rather into the hands of the future. Today we witnessed the start of a long journey, but one filled with hope. As the torch gets passed from the old generation to the new, questions linger in everyone’s mind, questions only answered by time itself.

During his speech, President Obama did not once look down at his notes, he did not once look down to collect his thoughts, he looked forward. He looked to the seas of people who had been awaiting this day. He looked towards what lies ahead, the heavy tasks that lay in the future to correct this faltered world. He looked towards those who stood in the way of progress and denounced their heavy-handed ways. His action is symbolic of the man he is. Far exceeding his words – which was like poetry, sending chills down my spine and a tear down my cheek – his body showed the world what the future will bring. We must all take sight of this and do the same. Look ahead to your opponents, look ahead to your battle, look ahead to the future, and not at your feet or any small obstacles in the way. Do not shy from any problem, take courage, honor and truth by your side and take the 21st Century as we should have 8 years ago. Above all else take hope, imagination and solidarity for change to create a world of peace, started not by countries, not by politics, not companies or organizations, but started by individuals. Do what is in your power to change the world into a better place.
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York University Picket Line

Since the start of November, students at York University in North York, Ontario have been sitting at the edge of their seats awaiting their classes to resume after a strike began with the re-negotiation of the Teaching Assistants (TA’s), Graduate Assistants (GA’s) and contract faculty contracts. The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) started a strike after local 3903’s demands were not met by York Administration. The first semester has already been thrown out, exams could not be held, classes could not be finished, and students were given high hopes that after the holidays, classes would resume for the second semester.

Negotiations resumed on January 5th after the winter holidays with high hopes. A vote for their last offer was requested by York Administration, only to be denied by CUPE’s bargaining team to be brought to its members on January 7th. With York Administration and CUPE local 3903 butting heads, we are shown yet again that the value of education will always be undermined by the pursuit of profitability. As York University Administration continues to prove to us that it is no better than any corporation losing the trust of its consumers for the better good of maximum profits, we seem to be losing our hope in any kind of organization. Sure, it was easy to accept the fact that the gas companies were sky rocketing the prices of our fuel while brandishing a false 2% profit; that the big-three automobile companies dropped all kinds of innovation to save a few million dollars by not updating its factories to include the mass production of the electric car or the hydro-powered car – and thus probably sending them into oblivion; that the heads of banks in the U.S. cared less about the billions given to them by the government and wasting valuable tax payers’ money than the spa treatments they took as soon as the cheque cleared. Hell it was even easy to accept the fact that most charitable organizations only end up giving (maybe) 10 cents to every dollar given to them to those who need it. But when even those in charge of educating the future leaders of our world care less about resuming education promised to 50,000 students than the money they raised for their 50th anniversary celebrations (an estimated $180 Million), we know we have come to a very sad time.
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