Canadians will go to the polls on January 23, 2006 — just like we did a mere year-and-a-half ago. To help put events in perspective, not being all that much of a political junkie, I went eavesdropping on the early-morning coffee crowd.
(Those old guys down in the diner are a source of great wit and wisdom in our rural community, and not to be underestimated — something the slick politicians have not yet come to understand.)
Here, in a nutshell, is what I’ve learned:
1. The election announcement follows inevitably on the defeat of the Liberal government on a non-confidence motion, the result of a temporary alliance of the three parties on the opposition side of Parliament.
2. The only thing that the three opposition leaders seem able to agree on is that the just-defeated government is essentially untrustworthy, if not downright corrupt (see Gomery Commission Inquiry)…
and…
3. “It’s cheaper to keep a fat hog fat than it is to get a lean one gained up for market.” Now, just let the big-city pollsters translate that bit of political pith into their trend-tracking spreadsheets!
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