Canadian Politics: The Scent Of An Election

When you sniff the wind in Ottawa these days you smell more than just the effluence from the combination of too many politicians in one place and the paper factory out on the Ottawa River. A nose made keen after years of ferreting out different scents on the wind will tell you that it's the smell of a snap election call in the offing.

I know what you're thinking: didn't we just have one less than a year ago? Who'd be stupid enough to think they could get away with going to the polls without getting hammered by the public? Change that to who's arrogant enough to believe they could win, and perhaps win big, and maybe you'll start to come up with an answer.

I know, didn't I just solve the case of the disappearing opposition by saying the direct opposite – that neither the Liberals, The New Democratic Party (NDP), nor the Bloc Quebecois have any interest in calling an election? True enough, but if the Conservative Party of Canada wants to go to the polls badly enough, they can manipulate a situation to make it happen.

All they have to do is introduce some piece of legislation repugnant enough to enough opposition members that they can't help but go down in defeat in the house. Not only do they get the election call they desire, but they can also blame it on the opposition parties in an attempt to garner support.

Of course, this involves a whole lot of delicate political maneuvering in the months leading up to the vote in the House of Parliament in an effort to establish you are perfectly content with your minority government. But sadly,you just aren't being allowed to run the country the way you want. Carrying this off requires a deft touch, a certain degree of subtlety, and a media campaign putting the right spin on events.

This type of ploy can come back and haunt you like last night's five alarm chili and five-beer dinner – feeling burnt at both ends and full of regrets at your own stupidity. It takes a certain amount of arrogance to think you can tackle that kind of meal without suffering the consequences, and if you have the right constitution, you'll be okay. But if you've miscalculated by even an nth of a degree, you'll just be adding it to thelist of things "I should have known better than to attempt."

Now all political parties like power. If they didn't, they wouldn't exist, no matter how high minded and moral any of them pretend to be. Once a politician and a party get a taste of power, they can become as easily addicted as any other wide-eyed junkie out there. Power is like any other drug, you keep needing more of it to get a jolt that gets you off.

Article Author: Richard Marcus

Richard Marcus is the author of the What Will Happen In Eragon IV? and The Unofficial Heroes Of Olympus Companion, both published by Ulysses Press. He has had his work published in print and online all over the world including the German edition of Rolling Stone Magazine and www.Qantara.de. …

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