३६ no more!

On this election eve in Canada, voters are faced with a strange choice. Actually there does not seem to be much of a choice. Taken in a good sense it boils down to the fact that all the players in the field have the state of the Canadian economy as their central focus. What makes them different from each others is how they plan to go about it. Traditionally ruling conservatives have had a top down approach and main opposition the liberals professed a bottoms up. Over the years that distinction has blurred to a large extant. Corporate sector's love affair with the conservatives and working class/ immigrant's honeymoon with the liberals is over for all practical purposes. If you think "big money" has no takers in the liberal party; well think again! Conservatives have been in power for the last couple of years and despite what liberals say they have made a conscious effort to reach out to voters at the opposite end of "big money".

No where is it more true than in Ontario, where a majority of the seats are held by liberals. Conservatives today need the immigrant vote more than at any  other time in the past. That is if they wish to come back and lead a majority government. Like all political parties everywhere in the world they have been tugging at the emotional cords by raising issues like  reducing family reunion wait times;increasing immigration numbers etc. etc. That is not why they deserve the voter support. All this is pure rhetoric. This issue has importance but what is critical for people is the economy. Actually Jason Kenney ,Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism lovingly called minister of curry in a hurry  has been on the ethnic media day in and day out answering questions on these emotional issues. This choice of spokesperson smartly has prevented people from asking other more pressing queries. Ask If you do not have a job yourself , what good will bringing a family member from your home country do? If one is finding housing prices  unaffordable and  wait times for services like health care simply impossible; what good is increasing the number of immigrants ? Isn't that going to be counter productive? And not only to the existing population , think of how much more difficult it would be for a newly arrived person. Can't find a job, can't find a house he can afford to rent......why should he be brought to Canada?  What on earth are we looking for here? Total chaos perhaps! Believe me if economy does not work ,nothing else will work.

One would imagine Liberals to have a better understanding of their traditional vote bank. They might have known that their support base is struggling with pay cuts, job losses and spiraling prices .  Immigrants they have taken for granted need to have their credentials recognized , no government has done anything to alleviate this . Doctors are sitting at home. MBA's are driving cabs. Whole generation  of immigrants  have  had their careers evaporate in thin air as soon as they landed in Canada.  However all they have for solace is  liberal rhetoric again. And then there is this creating of an irrational fear psychosis  in the immigrant minds against conservatives.  Firstly questions should be asked as to what have liberals done in all the previous decades when they were in power except make right noises. Immigrants ;  visible minorities and other socially aware groups have given extended support to them but these very groups have received very little in return. Reportedly liberals are against war in Iraq and all such things ..... In reality what one has to realize that all  of that is just posturing. They are looking for Muslim votes and such veiled references are made to please that  vote bank.  If you ask me  they should not be pleased !  It is just an emotional issue .Canada's largest trading partner is.......you guessed it. The USA! Apart from a joint  history and shared world view there are several different kind of treaties  that bind the two. How practical do you think it would be for any Canadian government to run counter to US ? Remember it is not an issue of sovereignty, it is one of self interest.  If  poll survey's are any indication voters in Canada are already giving Liberals a big thumbs down. And the big question to ask would be; did we need this 7th election in 4 years. Who is picking the $ 300 million tab?

There is a a third force in fray. What my friend called "orange revolution", the other day. Entirely based on a single personality ; NDP to my simplistic mind is just a different shade of liberal. Personally I am also wary of an organization that looks and feels like a one man show. Sooner rather than  later it all unravels. There is not a lot of history behind them and luckily for them they have not had a chance to screw up nationally so far. Based on recent poll survey's a lot more Canadians are putting their weight behind them although their track record of running provinces has been a mixed bag . Did they roll out their socialist program in the provinces they ran?  What kind of economic disaster it was? You have to ask ; please ! This time round they seem to be within sniffing distance of the leader of the pack. The thing to remember is that running Federal government is a different ball game and freezing interest rates on credit cards to 5% + prime is not much of a poll plank. Apart from it being impractical it is meant to reward people who mismanage their finances and abuse their credit. That proposal is bound to have a negative impact on most others who are prudent. Trust me credit card companies are simply going to pass on the added cost of providing credit to rest of us. Much in the same way as we have to  pay an exorbitant  car insurance premium just because one lives in a postal code that has a high number of insurance claims. You may never have made a claim in your entire life  yet you must pay for fraudsters  and careless drivers every single month ! How smart is that?

Everybody is making every kind of promise. In a way they have realized that they will need to accommodate  various groups in their policy making.  At least until the ballots are cast. Conservatives know they can not be Enoch Powell and Liberals know they can not be Lenin. Voters know they need to go beyond their usual and have crossed the floor in large numbers this time round mostly ditching Liberals.  Even so all you may end up is another hung parliament.  

36 in Devanagari is written ३६ . A figure that represents two entities completely inimical to each other.  In this election no side is completely opposite of each other. Voters are open to being wooed by all. Parties are ready to form alliances across ideological divide even before the ballots have been cast. Maybe  NDP is getting ready to form  the government with Bloc Quebecois . Conservatives are possibly sounding Green party for a  post poll alliance. Liberals are most likely reviewing resume's of possible candidates to replace Michael Ignatieff and I am glad I do not have to vote . You see I am not a citizen! If you are , please do so tomorrow and remember it is " The Economy", nothing else matters !