Why I Feel Sorry for Stephen Harper

I find Canadian politics problematic - especially now with the impending election. We Canadians pride ourselves in our objectivity, our inherent nice-ness, and our ability to have a political system devoid of the glamour of the American one. And yet at the same time, this particular election has been plagued with the very things that we despise - especially vilification.

Stephen Harper, the leader of the Conservative Party, has been demonized throughout this entire campaign. Why? For being cold, unemotional, and Canada's own George W (courtesy of Layton and his leftist-NDP). Now, I find this troubling for many reasons. Firstly, because the Canadian election seems to have become a quasi-popularity contest. Since Stephen Harper isn't the warmest of guys on the political scene (I beg to differ - he seems much nicer than the 'over-cooked lettuce-esque' Stephane Dion and the 'extremely bitter karela' Jack Layton), he doesn't have the capability to be Prime Minister. As well, because he's just a bit more rightist than the Liberal Party, and believes in a foreign policy that requires military action on Canada's part (finally!), he's our own George W.

Come on Canada. This is unfair. To completely demonize a leader for these reasons is irrational and idiotic.

Another reason why I feel sorry for him - the economy. Now, let's get this straight - I'm a rightist when it comes to the economy, and even though the world economy is facing hardship, I still think that the only way to achieve economic growth is through the market and its forces. Now, I agree with Keynes that some regulation is needed and that dangers exist when regulation is completely cut back (like we saw in the US of A), but I don't believe that the only way out of our current 'troubles' (and we know that Canada's economic woes are nowhere near those of other countries') is to increase government spending and regulation.

Stephen Harper has been lambasted for not announcing a major change in his economic policies, following the American meltdown. Now, he's an economist and a free-market-ist (don't you love making up words?), and believes in much of what I believe in. And he also thinks that changing platforms in the middle of the election, just for the sake of appearing to be doing something, is wrong (a person with a brain -thank-you!). But, the Conservative Party has been dropping steadily in the polls because of this. And the opposition has been constantly harping (lol) on him for not changing his platform. I wonder what they would have done if he had done so earlier. Perhaps blamed him for changing policies? Oh, and in an interview on CBC, Harper said that now was a good time to buy stock market shares (because they're obviously down) - he's been laughed at for that as well. But anyone who knows anything about the stock market knows the following: 'buy low and sell high'.

At the end of the day - I think it comes down to this - a relatively uneducated Canadian populace - one that doesn't follow politics in the nation regularly, and only does so during elections. And further, one that is easily swayed by such banter. Perhaps, I don't feel sorry for Mr. Harper - he has his principles and from the way I see things, it seems as if he follows them. Who do I feel sorry for? Canadians in general. Wake-up people....

ps - I don't belong to any political party. I'm one of those voters who looks at the state of Canadian affairs and votes for the political party that a) best suits my views (either the Liberals or the Conservatives usually) and b) I feel will best lead my country domestically and internationally.