Editorial cartoon

Kristina Gutauskas / Ryersonian Staff

On Friday, the triumphant howls of the opposition were heard in the halls of Parliament, as they finally succeeded in their three-year stratagem of ousting Stephen Harper from government.

As predicted, Canada is heading into its fourth election in seven years.

Three cheers for democracy.

Some people were lauding Friday’s rumblings as a “historical day,” but let’s be honest here. The only real significance will be that the four major party leaders will once again revert to behaving like four monkeys squabbling over a banana.

The 2011 campaign has only been underway a few days, but political leaders are already trying to define what this election will be about. Harper says it’s about stability. Michael Ignatieff says it’s about trust. Jack Layton says it’s about fairness. For Gilles Duceppe, it will always be about Quebec.

But what do the voters say? Technically, the election is always about them, or at least that’s what the politicians will say to get votes. So, shouldn’t it be us deciding what this election is about? Probably, but it was left up to us last time, and Canadians showed how little they cared with a 59.1 per cent voter turnout, the lowest in history.

But who can blame them? There’s only one thing that can lead to a historically poor voter turnout, and that’s a historically poor government. I’ve voted in every election since I turned 18, but for the first time, I’m actually finding myself a little unwilling to vote for any of the apes who want to be prime minister. Whether it is the federal budget, health care, or taxes, not one of them has been able to voice anything besides complaints about the opposing parties.

Parliament has become a jungle, and the politicians might as well be swinging from vines with all the chaos and lack of progress that is occurring.

As much as the candidates will insist that elections (especially this election) are about trust, stability, fairness, or Quebec, it’s really about snatching the golden fruit that will allow them to seize command.

The problem is power. Ignatieff, Layton, and Duceppe want to take it from Harper, and he’s hanging on like it’s the last banana on earth. That’s what the past three years have been about. Harper would shut down Parliament every time there was a threat, but every time it was re-opened, he would be greeted with the hungry smiles of the opposition, who were all too ready to wrest it from his grip with their “coalition-but-not-a-coalition” government.

It’s power that drives politics. Never mind the important issues of health care, poverty, and the economy. Never mind the fact that a decent federal budget has been rejected more times than I can count. Never mind that the country is deteriorating while these men slip and fall on the peels of dishonesty and deceit.

All that matters to them is triumph in an election that will waste Canadians’ time, money, and will to care.

Canada may have beaten the economic recession, but our federal politicians are quickly receding into primitive creatures that are incapable of leadership, honesty, and integrity.