The First Part of Chapter 21: The Public Forum

On the last Monday before the election, the networks hosted the English-language debate, which Margaret and Hyram, among many others across the nation, were watching. The French-language debate, which was much ballyhooed in the run-up to the actual event, occurred the night before, but resulted, as was the consensus among pundits, in a tie. Margaret walked out of the kitchen, into the dining room, and paused briefly to look at the pictures arranged on the buffet; on the left were photos of Jacob and Alice with Sean as a baby and then slowly growing larger, in the middle were pictures of Mary, with and without her husband Andrew, and on the right were pictures of James and Clarissa. Margaret thought that James was handsome, in a way, and she regretted that she had thought of James differently when he was alive. She had spent a larger portion of her spare time studying closely the details of the photographs of James, which were now the only reminders in the elder Varettes’ house of their youngest daughter’s marriage. She noted almost everything about him in the photos: his black hair, which in the photos was unkempt in the same moppish style, his slightly tubby stomach, and his charming smile; through study she could see the side of James that had attracted her daughter, and these pictures remained her only connection to an alternate reality where James was alive, Clarissa happy, and Margaret on reasonably good terms with both of them.

Hyram had turned the television on, and had cleared the coffee table of technical drawings of highway bridges, upon which now stood a bowl of apple crisps. Their attention shifted to the television, which focussed on the faces of Nia Aitt and Ronald Boe, whom Margaret called Ron Boe; she thought the television personality was quite handsome. Hyram thought he was aloof and detached, as if he were observing the world from a different plane.

“Good evening, and welcome to the Election Debate in English on CTV. I am your co-host, Nia Aitt,”

“And I am Ronald Boe, your other co-host.”

“Tonight, CTV, CBC, and Global have collaborated to bring you the Election Debate. With us tonight are the leaders of the federal parties: Prime Minister Bruce Thomas Meach, the leader of the opposition, Cameron Duff, Patrick Wakefield, Georges Valence and Abethey Mazli. The debate will last two hours, with questions fielded by Canadian citizens. We will start with an introductory statement by each of the leaders, who drew lots to see who would go first. The question will be posed, and each leader will have a one-minute long opportunity to answer, followed up by a discussion of the issue among the leaders. With that, I will ask Ms. Mazli to make her introductory statement.”

“Thank you, Ronald and Nia. Citizens, I stand before you today as a representative of the Global Green Movement. The environment has gained prominence in the minds of the public, and for good reason; we have come to recognise that the environment is a key determinant of our livelihoods, and it is nearly universally recognised that without a robust and healthy environment, one cannot have a functional economy, and thus, the stakeholders include every person on the planet. That environmental degradation is an increasing problem is no idle statement without base; it is a fact, and we can see the most prominent example of the environmental impact that our species has had on the planet in global warming. We are changing the climate in an unsustainable fashion, and it is up to us to stop it. As a politician, I remain a fundamental optimist, and this problem, while serious, may be ameliorated and is eventually reversible. I am running in this election for more than personal ambition; I am running to make a statement, and to support the environmentalist cause. Thank you,”

“Next, we have Mr. Meach.”

“Thank you, Ron. Citizens, I stand before you today not as Prime Minister, but as a citizen advocate for the causes I believe in. These causes are: Canada, and its advancement and a drive for its increased prominence in world affairs, justice on an equal basis for all, and I, like all members of my party, strive to ensure that all Canadians ensure equal opportunity for everyone so that they can succeed when they want to, and I strive to foster the most competitive business environment in the world. It must also be said that you may judge me by my record, and in this, I recognise that I am not perfect, merely human, and would wish to own my errors and say unequivocally, that these mistakes in making appointments and various gaffes will never happen again. Like Mrs. Mazli, I also believe that respect for the environment is an important cause, which is essential for Canada to support, for if we do not respect our environment, we do not respect ourselves. That is why I have proposed to protect the Atlantic waters from fishing to preserve fish stocks for future generations. Thank you,”

“Next, Mr. Duff will make his statement.”

“Thank you, Nia. Fellow Canadians, I stand tonight as a real Canadian, a true struggler for better government, more efficient management, preserving and enhancing Canadian culture, and augmenting our image abroad as a world leader. I come to you as a representative and firm believer of the cause of better government, which has been decidedly lacking these past four years that Bruce Meach has been Prime Minister. As the alternative candidate, my role as prime minister shall be to renew: I shall renew the belief of the Canadian people in the efficacy of our government, I shall institute practices of best management to ensure clean government, and I will ensure that the government is run efficiently and without graft, patronage, or any of the other diseases that pollute the body politic of the nation and undermine our democratic values. Citizens, I stand before you to serve you, not my friends––although I consider all of you my friends––and not my family, just you. Thank you,”

Hyram turned away from the television and toward Margaret; either Patrick Wakefield or Georges Valence would be making his statement next, and he was not interested in what the left-wing leaders had to say; he was not impressed by Valence’s vacillation on a number of issues, and had not considered voting for the New Democrats since his days at Omega Faucets.

“So far, so good. No major gaffes on the Prime Minister’s part. Do you remember the one about him and the dodo?”

“That was funny,” replied Margaret. “I really liked the parody of that by Rea Li.” She was sitting on the armchair in the downstairs rec room, but her attention drifted from the television at that moment. She was thinking of the state of her pension plan; it had lost about a third of its value over two years ago, and it was thanks to an astute decision on Hyram’s part to sell her stocks and buy bonds that stopped them losing even more money. Now that the recession was over, the focus was more on layoffs. She knew relatively little about economics, but she was able to recognise a pattern through her life that after the economy was bad, employers tended to lay people off in an effort to “become more competitive”. Thinking about that oft-abused euphemism made her shudder, and it also brought up James’s death. He was laid off just an hour before the heart attack, and the more she dwelled on this, the more her opinion of Maurice deteriorated. It was a curious that although the chain of events leading up to his death was entirely accidental and by chance, she could not help feeling that Maurice deserved almost all of the blame, and her opinion of James had changed after his death. It was very interesting to recall that she did not take a particular liking to James when she met him, but now her attitude toward him had changed. Had he only lived! Now she thought of him highly; from what Clarissa said, he seemed very emotionally stable, hardly ever raising his voice in argument, unlike Hyram, who constantly bickers about me putting too much pepper on the roast beef. Perhaps I should admit I was wrong to Clarissa; on the other hand, perhaps I should hold my tongue; admitting one's mistakes would seem clumsy in a parent, no matter what the age.

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