Dear Editor,
The Federal election on the 21st of October showed a significant shift in the representation of the Conservative party not only on the prairies but also nationally. The Conservatives increased their seats in parliament by 26 seats while the Liberals lost 21 seats. Interestingly too is the fact that the Conservatives had a full percentage point more than the Liberals of the popular vote. That suggests that if we had a proportional representation model in electing MP’s, the Conservatives might have had an distinct advantage in parliament.
But as politics is currently decided in Canada, things work differently. How the next parliament will function, with smaller parties required to support legislation, will involve a significant degree of cross party co — operation.
Will the Conservatives’ vision of Canada result in opposing every legislative plan irrespective of its merits for the sake of promoting its own vision?
At this point we don’t know but it is worth noting that legislation has an impact either quite narrowly or more broadly. Ultimately who gains from legislation and who is negatively impacted will be an important consideration. With competing regional interests how would these be reconciled?
Angry confrontation and an insistence on dogmatic and rigid ideas are often not helpful in working with both complex issues and interests. It is difficult to keep an open mind if party consensus has an established vision that sometimes can be inflexible.
In our ordinary non-political lives we often face similar conundrums. Hopefully there we try to do our best with what understanding and with what humanity we have. Hopefully elected MP’s will do the same.
George Jason, Ponoka