I have also been traversing the land of Canadian political weblogs. I must wholeheartedly agree with your findings. Most often issues are a lot more complex than they read. The best cure for our political woes is to inject some good people into the system. A good example of this was the late Angus MacLean. http://archives.cbc.ca/IDC-1-73-906-5296/politics_economy/elections_pei/clip2

I was born and raised in the maritimes, and have lived in all three prairie provinces, and the USA. Our country is becoming more and more divided, and opportunistic politicians are capitalising on it.

I’m not sure which polticial party is the way to go anymore. NDP are not a serious option, the Liberals have a legacy of mediocrity, and I’m afraid the Tories are a little too friendly with the Americans.

Begin the thawing of John Diefenbaker, the last Prime Minister who wasn’t owned by business interests, Americans, or literati.

Anyways…

That’s my comment.

Good points on John, but remember the cabinet he put together (I believe it was in ’59) that resulted in the loss of the Avro Arrow and all the brain power behind it.
His intentions were good, but the result was disaterous and kept the Conservatives out of power for decades.

As long as the average voter has to cram themselves into one of the two major parties in order to be the party in power, we are going to have these Hatfield-McCoy scenarios repeating themselves over and over. Policy takes a back seat to villifying the ‘other’ party, because throwing mud is just so damn effective in a two party system. And so efficient as well – there’s only one target and it’s easy to play the ‘Good guys’ ‘Bad guys’ game.

The fundamental change I’d like to witness in Canadian politics is the rise of a true multi-party system, where issues are the driving force in the election of the government rather than party allegiances.

Minority governments can be effective, and I think our country needs a real lesson in consensus building.

In so many ways you are right, but when I look at the history of Italy and France, as well as Israel currently, minority gov’ts are not very efficient either…which in this case may be an argument for your point.
The population base is too heavily weighted in Eastern Canada, particularly among minority groups, who tend to vote in blocks.
The Liberals did a great job of winning them over in the 70’s and 80’s. If Mulroney hadn’t screwed up with the GST, the PC’s could have retained some credibility in the East and we wouldn’t be in the schmoze we’re in now.
Unfortunately the West will remain the weak sister until 2050 when the population shift is estimated to supercede the East.

Anonymous,
It appears everyone wants to use your name, and with some flattery, have us advertise for them.
This is what will give free enterprise a bad name.
If you are wanting us to advertise for you, be up front, pay for it, and make Kim a rich man.