I've been planning this diary for a while, but I've never been to sure how to go about it. As a left-wing dual citizen, living in Canada, I've always been rather pleased with the way the American Left views my country. Hell, I'm even proud of Canada, most of the time (a very un-Canadian thing to say, but then, I'm also American). We have health-care, a decent welfare system, liberal immigration, relaxed pot laws, gay marriage, plus we opted out of the Iraq war and Missile defense. But now all of our waunted liberalism may very well be our undoing. Woe, oh woe is us. At least hockey is back...
Sound alarmist? Maybe, but you have to remember, we have one, maybe two seperatist parties.
Now, I should point out, I don't support the governing party. That is to say, I don't vote for them. I don't really have much against them, though. The Liberals came into power after the Canadian versin of Reagan, who had driven the country deep into dept. Over the course of four terms in office they turned that deficit into nine (?) straight surpluses. Indeed, their savvy econimcs kept our economy strong when most of the rest of the G8 were wallowing.
During this time the liberals cemented their dominance. In response to the sheer power of the centrist party, our two right wing parties, the Progressive Conservatives (oxymorons, all of them) and the Reform Party, decided to merge. Seperated, they represented the economic right (P.C), and the religious right (Reform). Together, they would be the Canadian version of the Republican party, and would enjoy the same sort of power at the polls.
Yeah, sure.
The thing is, Canadians won't vote Republican. When people have been soft-right their whole lives, they aren't interested in making claims against abortion or gay people, and they still won't support the Iraq War. Furthermore, the liberals had been moving right for the last ten years to balance the budget. They became much closer to the former P.C. position than the new Amalgam can ever hope.
Thus, the Canadian liberal irony. This government has now been in power for four straight terms, and looks to be headed for another majority, even as they're embroiled in a controversy that should send them packing. There is no opposition in this country, and we are paying for it. It saddens me to say it, but Canada needs a strong conservative party right now. We have two viable separatist movements, and each gets stronger as scandal after scandal refuse to drop the Liberals from power. The Conservative leader is creepy enough that even those Liberals who would vote farther left in protest are scared back to the fold.
Now that's a difficult position. Just goes to show you, be careful what you wish for. Now excuse me, I think I'm going to go marry some random guy and get prescribed weed for my cataracts.