Following Canada’s 44th election is a bit like re-watching old political dramas on Netflix. We have seen them all before and we know what to expect. Still, as they navigate Canada’s endless carousel of content, we considered our options.
The options for Canada’s next prime minister are being carefully selected just for us, whatever our political colors, with every public appearance or micro-targeted Facebook ad.
Erin O’Toole is styled like a less racy, more fatherly version of ScandalFitzgerald Grant III, an affable fighter pilot turned pro-abortion Republican shaking off the dust on the right and lifting your weight to the center. But O’Toole’s platform is not as progressive as it is credited with.
On abortion, it offers nothing but the status quo: a superficial pro-choice ethic that relies on medical referrals for access. In my city of British Columbia, for example, this makes no difference for girls and women forced to travel hours out of town to have an abortion at the clinic, as no provider will do it locally. Tax breaks, limited benefits, and peppered job creation plans the platform They invoke women, but offer few remedies for the root causes of the “shecession.” And it hardly speaks of racial discrimination.
The conservatives’ slogan “Securing the Future,” as “Regaining Canada” used to, pleases a nationalist crowd. It’s the polite face of a political mood that is still hanging over the post-9/11 xenophobic anxieties portrayed in the antiterrorism television thriller. 24. When it comes to real threats of the 21st century, like the climate crisis, O’Toole offers little to secure our future. His plan would cut carbon emissions far less than that of the liberals, effectively rolling back climate ambition amid a planetary “code red” emergency.
Justin Trudeau, on the other hand, is being modeled as a character in an Aaron Sorkin-style project, but less west wing and more American President, the 1995 romantic drama in which Democratic Commander-in-Chief Andrew Shepherd must weigh his own political ambitions against the demands of an environmental defender. Unfortunately, Trudeau doesn’t exactly measure up to this fictional hero, who ultimately decides to legislate a massive 20 percent cut in fossil fuels.
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Under the watch of the liberals, the oil patch has been allowed to increase emissions every year. Not only did the Trudeau government buy a tar sands pipeline (currently under construction), it continues to embrace natural gas, a questionable hydrogen strategy, and partnerships with an energy industry that steadfastly refuses to transition to cleaner sources. Trudeau could use a little Sorkin-style common sense. Despite running a climate ambition platform, it is not delivering what scientists say we need.
Only Annamie Paul’s Green Party has embraced the necessary goal of a 60% reduction in emissions from 2005 to 2030 levels, but his script is still in development and he faces a riot from the cast.
If liberals and conservatives are Hollywood’s old answer to political cinema, then Jagmeet Singh’s New Democratic Party is the Netflix Originals. Singh, an underprivileged leader of the homeless party, is an identifiable protagonist for a new generation. Like the new Netflix programming, the NDP leaves room for contrary ideas and diverse casting. The party list has more Indigenous, racialized, female and gender diversity candidates than anyone else, and has come up with a litany of progressive policies to tackle extreme wealth, the cost of living, racism and more. But with liberals pulling ideas out of the NDP newsroom, the party will have to work harder to distinguish itself.
One missed opportunity to do so is a clean climate conscience. Still flirting with fossil fuels, the NDP should offer more to phase out all fossil fuel financing and achieve its emissions reduction goal to the end; at 50 percent below 2005 levels by 2030, it is higher than liberals but still below what is needed. Capitalizing on Singh’s sympathy and TikTokability, the NDP risks offering more personality than plot at a time when grandiose and honest narratives could energize its base and unite its politics.
By calling these elections, the Liberals have built a political house of cards. The Conservatives have risen to the top of the polls and Singh remains the most popular leader. Not surprisingly, the conversation has now shifted to strategic voting, which research shows tends to benefit liberals.
Opinion: With just a week to go in this election season, let’s see something that’s 100% new, writes columnist @jessafia for @NatObserver. # elxn44
But amid a fourth wave of COVID-19, a climate emergency and an affordability crisis, the stakes are high. Should we really freak him out with candidates whose plans won’t get the job done? We need the main leaders of the party to step up and show us that they have their sights set on a future with room for all of us.
As Fatima Syed jokingly said while she was a guest host Canadaland‘s Shortcuts A few weeks ago, “Someone bring a better version of Aaron Sorkin to our times and help fix or improve politics…. but with more women and more racialized people. “
A good chunk of Canadians’ votes is still up for grabs. Now is the time for big visionary policy shifts. To quote Sorkin American President: “We have serious problems and we need serious people.” With only a week to go in the season of these elections, let’s see something that is 100% new.
Reference-www.nationalobserver.com