Last night during the Oscar broadcast, the Conservative Party of Canada ran this advertisement. I’ll let you watch it before we continue.
I’m tired of these attack ads, but not because they’re rude and base-politics, but because it’s insulting to me specifically. The Conservatives are mocking the leader of Her Majesty’s Loyal Opposition for saying, “I wish my country were a little better.” I too wish my country were a little better, and it has nothing to do with who is leading our nation, it’s not a question of Harper vs. Ignatieff, it’s the simple fact that Canada is not, has never been, and will never be perfect, and so we cannot let that status quo be “good enough.” We must strive to make Canada the best it can be, and we all know that the best Canada can be is incredible.
I could discuss the whole “peacekeeping reputation” that they allude to in the ad, at which I’d simply say, look at the past two decades of peacekeeping, either it was non-existant or it was painful. That, however, is not the point. The point is simple, do the Conservatives believe that the status quo is good enough? If so, why are they reducing corporate taxes? Why recklessly spend undisclosed billions on fighter jets, and new prisons, and further deepening Canada’s structural deficit?
Maybe it’s not a wish for the status quo, but instead a wish to further hurt Canada both domestically and abroad?
Either way, I will offer my kudos to Mr. Harper for his recent financial actions against Gadhafi, and will cite this as an example of making Canada better.