The Third Part of Chapter 22: I Choose...

“Now we will have a word from Geoff on the strategies of the campaign trail. Geoff, what part did policies play on strategy?”

“Policies played a major part in appealing to regional voters, as well as liberal and conservative voting blocs. The primary plank of the Tory platform was the elimination of payroll taxes, which is to say, the premiums that everybody sees deducted from their pay. This was particularly prominent considering anyone who has a job is reminded of these taxes when they receive their paycheques. It was thus politically flashy, and rather painted the Liberals into a corner, who were left to make noises about where they would find the money to cover what revenue stream was being lost from premiums. That this was a comment typically made by an opposition party, as Cam Duff pointed out, did not help the Liberals’ cause, and may foreshadow the Grits’ future role in the House of Commons. The Liberals’ policy of turning Canada’s Atlantic waters into a conservation zone was primarily aimed at environmentalists, a group which is growing in numbers very quickly, particularly after the collapse of the Atlantic fisheries last year. It is no secret that fisheries the world over are in poor shape, and the Liberals may have been trying to boost their international credibility in the eyes of fish lovers, environmentalists and conservationists the world over. Despite some traditionally obvious objections that reserving such a large area of our waters for the exclusive purpose of the conservation of sea life by banning all fishing would put a drag on the economy of the Atlantic region, there has been surprisingly little opposition there due to the collapse of their fisheries, which may explain the Liberal sweep of those four provinces, with the Conservatives leading in only two seats in the region right now. It may have also helped that the Liberals claimed that this new reserve would create tourism jobs, with people wanting to experience the wildlife up close. To use their words, they ‘want people to experience the seas as they are supposed to be: unimaginably teeming with wildlife, so thick with fish that they can impede ships in the way that Cabot was impeded’. As you can see, the Liberals are leading in 26 seats; the greens are leading in Cape Breton and the New Democrats have the balance.

“Speaking of the New Democrats, their campaign strategy was focussed on the manufacturing sector: they promised subsidies to industry, and they promised to protect domestic jobs. While this was popular in the more working-class parts of Ontario, it was not so among other regions of the country, such as Alberta; they are presently shut out of that province, most of those seats showing Conservative leads, and the other three showing Liberal leads, with five Tories now elected from that province. That strategy, while winning over substantial numbers of their traditional working class and socialist base, turned off many, indeed, almost all economists; during three weeks of discussions among several hundred economists, I was only able to find one voice supporting that policy, that voice belonging to the Canadian Auto Workers’ economist. For this reason, numerous economists, the Fraser Institute, the banks, the Conference Board of Canada, among others, all came out in opposition to aid to the manufacturing sector. All of these economists said it was protectionism and may violate the terms of numerous trade agreements that the Government had signed over the past several years.

“They also promised to invest in public transit infrastructure, as did the Liberals, but the promises made by New Democrats were much more substantial in this direction: they promised rail-based rapid transit investments in nearly every province, high-speed rail between Calgary and Edmonton, and along the Quebec-Windsor corridor, and the extension of Via Rail to Prince Edward Island, as well as new subway systems and substantial extensions to existing ones in the five most populous provinces. This promise was aimed primarily at the urban base of the New Democratic Party, and also aimed to appeal to populations along the rail corridors.”

“To give an update, the conservatives are leading or elected in 110 seats, the Liberals in 104, the Bloc in 35 seats, the New Democrats in 25 seats, and the Green party in one seat. We cannot predict who will form a government, as we are still waiting on results from B.C., which should be coming in fifteen minutes or so.”

“I don’t think there will be too much happening. I’ll go call Clarissa to see how she’s doing,” said Patricia as she left the living room. In the kitchen, she picked up the phone and dialled Clarissa.

“Hi Clarie, how are you?”

“Hi Pat, I’m fine. I’m watching the election right now.”

“I was, but nothing much is going on right now except for talking heads. Strategy is very interesting, but I would prefer to read it in the morning paper, you know?”

“I agree; reading Dan-Matt Night-Haig wax verbose with all of his sophisticated syllogisms is much more pleasurable than listening to him do the same. Isn’t it titillating?”

“Waiting to see who will form the next government, you mean?

“Of course. I really like the horse race aspect of it. You know, ‘Grits elected in twenty seats, leading in eighty-three more’, and all that.”

“So, the real reason I wanted to talk to you was simply because I wanted to hear from you. How are you? Are you still feeling down?”

“As long as you don’t remind me of my loss, I think I’ll make it through the evening just fine.”

“I trust you’ve been drinking water,”

“Yes,”

“Well, how’s it going?”

“Not so well at the moment; plenty of men look at my pregnant belly and think, no thank you. They don’t even ask about my income. I’ve been able to get past greetings with the more sensitive types, though.

“Oh, you know that thing with the leaked cabinet minutes? I’m a friend of Sandra Ward’s, who leaked those minutes, and she says the Prime Minister is quite the asshole. He constantly yells at staff, tries to control his cabinet with an iron fist, and demonises anyone who questions his integrity. I know that job has an unusual amount of strain, but this seems unacceptable; it’s like he has two sides to him: there’s the face he puts on for the public to see, and in private he’s this whole other person.”

“I guess that’s what you would call his public mask stripped away; I think the version of him revealed by the cabinet minutes is the real version of him.”

“Sandy also said he was losing his grip on reality. You know all those policies and that carefully crafted election platform he has? He doesn’t have a clue. He is simply an excellent actor who goes through all the lines and the proper gestures.”

“Clarie! Don’t you disapprove of gossip?”

“Well, yes, but you know, we’re all human. This may be damaging, as it has absolutely nothing to do with his policies, which I by and large agree with; it’s like an addiction, you know, and I confess I’m not entirely innocent. Nobody is. On the other hand, he works for us: it’s a simple employer-employee relationship,”

“Do you have any predictions for the outcome?”

“I predict a tumultuous Forty-First Parliament, but I’m sure you could have seen that already. As for who becomes prime minister, I think the numbers are trending to the conservatives, but I really don’t know; I voted for the Liberals, though only after much hemming, hawing and waffling. Is there anything interesting going on with you guys?”

“You know, it’s the same old, same old. Katherine is going into final exams with the high school science classes that she is teaching, which is always a bit of a stressful time for her, perhaps you can imagine.”

“Well, goodnight. I’ll be watching the political drama, and I’m sure you will be too. The television is showing Liberal headquarters right now. It sounds so quiet; I bet they’re all waiting on tenterhooks for the results to come in, just as we are.”

“Goodnight, Clarie. Take care.”

“Goodnight, Pat,”

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