Red vs Blue...

So I'm not much for politics.

Red vs Blue vs Orange vs Green vs Light Blue...

I can't keep track.

For those of you stopping by from outside Canada, we just had an election. What was interesting about this one was that our Conservative party won its third election in a row but this time managed to secure a majority government which will mean no more elections for at least four years to say nothing of the fact that the Conservatives should be able to implement their platform with less interference.

What was even more interesting was that Canada's traditional first (or second) party, the Liberal party of Canada, was handed a resounding defeat, dropping to their lowest number of Parliamentary seats ever. Connected to that, Canada's traditionally third party, the New Democrats, surged to their best result ever, becoming the 'Official Opposition' for their first time in their history. This was effected primarily as a result of the Province of Quebec (Canada's 'strange cousin' among the provinces) turning their back en masse on the Bloc Quebecois, a separatist party that has held Quebec in its grip for 20 years.

Both the Liberal and Bloc leaders failed to get elected in their ridings and have since resigned.

Here's where I get interested.

The New Democrats are quite a bit more to the 'left' (more liberal) than the Liberals. Quebec is traditionally the most left-leaning of Canada's provinces followed by British Columbia. When the election night results started coming in, one of the commentators suggested that maybe what we were seeing was the result of an increasing gap between left and right in Canada. It's almost like you have 'two' Canada's now; British Columbia and Quebec on the left, and Alberta and Ontario on the right.

What's changed with this election is that Ontario has moved from the middle to the right creating a new and strange alignment between Canada's most populous province (Ontario) and its most prosperous (Alberta).

What seems (to me) to be happening is that hip, loose, highly-secularized, urbanites (a very 'blanket statement' comment to try and describe Quebec and British Columbia) and straight-laced, family-oriented, less-secularized, suburbanites (again 'blanketing' Ontario and Alberta) have decided to entrench themselves in their worldview and practice.

I've felt like that separation has been happening for a long time.

See, Canadians have traditionally prided themselves on their 'moderation', we (supposedly) don't like to swing too far in either direction (to left or right) and the Liberal party has been the 'home' of centrist-thinking Canadians.

What struck me about this election was that the Liberal party didn't seem to be taking a 'stand' for anything. In all their communication I felt hard pressed to really zone in on what they were 'about' what they 'stood for'.

I think if you were to do a real 'laypersons' analysis of the five main parties in Canada, like, just asked a dude on the street...

What do the Conservatives stand for?

"Lower taxes, big business, law and order, family values..."

What do the NDP stand for?

"Social justice, fighting poverty, unions..."

What does the Bloc stand for?

"They want to separate..."

What do the Greens stand for?

"Legalizing marijuana and protecting the environment..."

What do the Liberals stand for?

And I've got to tell you, this time around, I don't think you'd have gotten a straight answer.

Now, mind you, I realize that all of the above statements are 'blanket statements' and that I might be missing the mark. I'm just speaking as a layperson here.

But here's what I 'got' out of all this.

1) You need to know what you stand for.

Because...

2) Canadian culture is polarizing (much like the rest of the West) and I don't think it's ever going to swing back to 'middling'.

More than ever before this election has reminded me that I have to be able to think, say, and act like "THIS is what we're about..."

I have to know the mission, know the bias, know the reason and execute.

So do you, no?

Yeah, thought so.

T