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.

Of no surprise to anyone, it is now being reported that Canada’s environmental inspector has found that much of the federal governments plan to save the planet from global warming was nothing more than lip service paid to the Canadian public.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s administration has rationed billions of taxpayers’ dollars for environmental initiatives. All of which promise to reduce Canada’s total greenhouse gas emissions by 80 megatonnes, which is roughly 10% nationally.

However, Environment commissioner Scott Vaughn has given our fearless leader and his cronies less than favourable marks in a failing-grade report card released on February 5th.
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