Lot of Folks Can't Tell Left From Right

Lot of Folks Can’t Tell Left From Right

By: Rachel Marsden

If Liberal leader, Paul Martin, ends up shopping around his resume after Monday’s election, it will be mainly because the one thing all Canadians have in common is that we’re fed up with endless Liberal scandal.

But a Harper victory might also indicate that a lot of Canadians have held those “scary conservative values” all along, but just didn’t know it until now. I’m serious.

In fact, a 2002 Compas poll found that over half of Canadians are oblivious to the differences between the political “left” and “right”. Some 18% thought the Canadian Alliance precursor to the Conservative Party was on the left. Another 32% admitted outright to not having a clue.

This campaign has spotlighted some of the tangible differences between the two ideological camps:

Conservatives want increased military funding so we can defend our interests and support our allies abroad. Liberals aren’t so keen on that, but they like the idea of sending ordinary folks over to places like the Mideast and Haiti with the Canada Corps Global Citizenship Program.

Conservatives want to take meaningful steps to crack down on the gun crime in our cities. Liberals seem more obsessed with preventing the “weaponization” of outer space—apparently putting their little green friends on par with Canadians living in urban centres.

This week, Harper reached out to Quebecers as important members of our federation. Martin verbally flipped off Bloc Quebecois leader Gilles Duceppe during the leaders' debates—yet he’s determined to help Palestinians and Israelis settle their differences through his new Canada Centre for Peace and Democracy in the Middle East.

Harper has said he would allow for a free vote on whether to reopen the gay marriage debate. Having decisions made by ordinary people though the MPs accountable to them is apparently not cool with Martin.

Canadians may finally be realizing that lefties tend to pop off about nonsense for dramatic effect—as Martin did during the TV debate when he promised to rip the notwithstanding clause out of our Charter of Rights—while conservatives are about getting things done.

In the 2004 U.S. Presidential race, John Kerry lost to George Bush largely because Kerry had people scratching their heads and wondering what this windbag had actually accomplished in his 20-year Senate career.

Likewise, if Paul Martin loses next week, his lackluster results as Prime Minister will have played a big role. And rehashing your stellar record as Finance Minister from the good old days when AdScam was in full swing hardly compensates for the fact that you’re out of new ideas. Besides, that’s a little bit like bragging about being the Human Rights Minister during the Third Reich.

Conservative Ronald Reagan crushed then-U.S. President Jimmy Carter in 1980, after Carter had proven himself to be one of the biggest political fubar artistes of all time. Voters were so desperate for change that they took a chance on an actor. But this actor ended up selling real conservatism through results. If Harper gets his shot, he will have to do the same—or I’ll be all over him like Mick Jagger at a supermodel convention.

PUBLISHED: TORONTO SUN (January 20/06)