I Feel Used....

I'll be the first one to admit that I don't mind being taken advantage of from time to time, especially if the deal comes with someone dressed in black leather holding a whip. That's a whole other blog topic, but even the masochist in me was left feeling a bit abused yesterday as I walked away from the voting booth after casting a ballot in what was probably the biggest waste of taxpayers time and money.

This time, more than any other, I feel very disillusioned by the political process in Canada and what it seems to have degenerated into. This system is broken and needs fixing, but I do not see anyone who has the fortitude to change a system that the fat pork-barellers have learned to manipulate to their benefit. The Conservatives have proven to be incredibly quick learners on that front. Many of the games and tactics that they railed against while in opposition and promised to fix if ever elected into government they quickly used when it suited their own partisan purposes.

Sidebar - Before I go any deeper, it is probably fair for me to let everyone know that I voted Conservative in this election. In fact I have voted Conservative (or Reform) in each and every election since I was eligible to vote. End Sidebar.

So after yesterday's vote I went home wondering what was so different about this vote compared to the other umpteen votes I've participated in? I still don't know that I have figured it out, but I think it boils down to one main feeling.

All of the votes before, I felt like I was voting for a party because I believed they were different and that they would do things differently if ever given the opportunity to govern. This time I did not feel that way at all. This time I felt like I was voting Conservative not because of what they stood for, or their ideas, but because they were the lesser of a number of evils.

The main reason behind this feeling was probably the fact that we were even having an election, despite legislation that was passed to have fixed election dates. The whole series of events around this legislation is a perfect metaphor for how all parties seem to be changed as they get a taste of political power; and probably is a blow for blow account on how my political naivety has been squashed.

When the Conservatives came to power those few years ago they did so promising to clean up government, rid it of the corruption and even the playing field so the deck isn't always stacked in favour of the sitting party. Once elected they very quickly passed legislation that set fixed election dates. I could not be happier. For once, it appeared that a government was going to do something they said it would do. Fast forward to just over a month ago and the PM is sitting for tea with the governor general asking her to dissolve parliament, nearly one full year before the fixed election date. Now this would be one thing if the fixed election date law had never passed. I probably wouldn't have such a sour taste in my mouth. But it did, and I do. They deliberately broke a law that they introduced when it suited their political purposes to do so. Now if these two events aren't bookends on the shelf of "Why Canadians are Apathetic about Politics Encyclopedia", then I don't know what is.

Pile on to this the seemingly endless campaign fodder that focused less on the Conservative policies and more on how bad Stephane Dion would be and you get a glimpse of why this election felt different for me. Hell, the Conservatives didn't even release their platform until the late hours of the campaign. How am I supposed to vote for your ideas when you haven't shared them with me? If anyone should have hidden their platforms it should have been the Liberals and the NDP because they were awful. Is this what we are headed to? Elections that turn into a game of political chicken where the first 95% of the campaign is about scaring voters away from your opponents and the last 5% trying to lure them to your camp? If so, that sucks. It's no wonder our voter turn-out is deplorable.

All in all, I still think the Conservatives will do more good than bad. I was actually surprised that they were able to function in a minority for as long as they did. This probably is due in part to smart strategy and part to a Liberal party that currently doesn't know its ass from a crack in the sidewalk. As far as the Conservatives go, this parliament will be telling on whether they get another vote from me the next go-round. If they continue to fly in the face of their own policies then that will be it for me. They will have confirmed that they are no different. If they take some of their own medicine and wake up to the fact that, even in politics, the end does not always justify the means, then I think they may be worth another vote.

Until then, pass the Maalox.