But the last thing we need right now or in the near future is an election

Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 26/07/2021 (1285 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Talk of a federal election has been heating up almost as much as the weather.

But the last thing we need right now, or in the near future, is an election.

There are too many things happening that actually require attention and action by the federal government for it to take a break and move into campaign mode. That would serve no one’s interest but the Trudeau Liberals, who are riding high in the opinion polls and want to cement that popularity into a majority government so they can have another four years in power.

But it won’t serve the rest of us well at all.

The Liberals are only in the middle of their mandate. Why not ride it out and then take their chances on whether voters want to give them another four years?

Canada isn’t the United States, which seems to be always in election mode. As soon as the presidential election is over it’s on to the Congressional midterm elections. As soon as those are over it’s on to the next presidential election.

The campaigning is relentless. The actual governing gets lost in the constant competition between political partisans.

I don’t know about anyone else, but the thought of trying to sort out who to vote for while we are still trying to quell the coronavirus is enough to make one want to hide under the bed. We still need to get our vaccination rate up. Wouldn’t we be better served by our politicians if they put their attention to that rather than electioneering?

In Alberta, we have the lowest vaccination rate in the country and we are seeing COVID-19 case numbers rise. This isn’t at all surprising given that the provincial government lifted restrictions much too soon. And while no one is sure what it means at this point, in the midst of that uncertainty do we really need politicians criss-crossing the country insisting that only they have the answers to all the questions?

Besides, in Alberta the election result will be the same as the last election: the vast majority will vote to send a passel of Conservative MPs to Ottawa.

In B.C., people are battling heat waves and wildfires like never before.

Election campaigns are often referred to as “smoke and mirrors” because of the staged photo ops and questionable promises made by those who want to be elected. In many parts of Canada the smoke from forest fires would indeed be real. Not exactly the best back drop for that photo-op and it might also make it difficult to speak for all the coughing.

And best not arrange too many campaign stops near farmer’s fields. In Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba severe drought has already ruined this year’s crops and hay pastures.

“When you look over some of the pastures, it’s a brown, almost gold colour. Because the grass that did grow here cooked after it grew,” said Kelcy Elford, who has a ranch near Moose Jaw, told Canadian Press.

And somehow tramping around the country looking for votes so soon after the heart rending discoveries of hundreds of graves at former residential schools seems dismissive of the pain and anger suffered by Indigenous people and other Canadians across the country.

Maybe there is no perfect time for an election. But this summer or the coming fall is definitely not a good time.

The Liberals should have to contend with being a minority government until closer to the end of their term. That should hold them in check from becoming too arrogant or over reaching.

Calling an election at this point won’t solve any of the problems confronting us and may in fact make them worse because it would only add to the uncertainty.

Maybe things look calmer when the country is viewed from deep within Ottawa.

But given the impact of climate change and the pandemic, it’s definitely not calm in other parts of the country.

Gillian Steward is a Calgary-based writer and freelance contributing columnist for the Star. Follow her on Twitter: @GillianSteward