Dear Editor,
There were two contrasting columns about the federal election in the April 30th Daily Herald. The one from Troy Media evolved into a scathing attack on Mark Carney (“arrogant behaviour, massive ego and aloof personality”) and a veritable love-in with Poilievre (“outside the box ideas”, “stellar”).
It was another example of how right-wing zealots get paid to sneak their way into the media, including our own Daily Herald. The author, Michael Taube, is a former speechwriter for Stephen Harper.
The other column was by our own Jason Kerr, and I appreciate the unbiased question that he raises: “Where does the NDP go from here?”
Without forming government, the NDP have used their electoral power to make life better for Canadians, most notably with public health care in 1968, but also with dental care, child care and pharmacare in this past session.
But this was unlike any election I’ve ever seen. It wasn’t about policy; it was about our sovereignty as a nation. With some of Trump’s rhetoric being echoed by Poilievre and with a poll indicating that 21% of Conservatives favor union with the U.S., many NDPers put “country before party” and voted Liberal. As in “I loaned the Liberals my vote.”
The new Liberal government now has the mandate to deal with Trump and, with only seven members, the NDP will again hold the balance of power. It can “call in the loan” that many New Democrats made in this election. And rebuild, as it always has in the past.
Jason is right. A 2-party system is not good for Canada. If we had proportional representation, like many countries in the world, even this election would have resulted in 21 NDP MPs and 5 Greens. Parties would have to fight less and compromise more. I think we’d all vote for that.
–Lon Borgerson, MacDowall
