CANADIAN MEDIA ANALYSTS NEED TO SEE ISSUES.

               
The right to die legislation will be debated agreed upon, disputed and become an issue for every so-called highly read journalist to use as a filler to avoid commenting on real problems. Most Canadians seem happy the decision is now in the hands of the people destined to leave life behind. Of course there will always be the inevitable people that say life is to be cherished to the very end regardless of the pain or problems created. Those people probably haven’t looked at the statistics regarding people that take their own lives in one way or another to avoid suffering.  In any case the debate is already filling the pages of Canada’s most prestigious media even though it is admittedly an issue that will not surface as an election topic. The need to seek power will always trump the need for balanced discussion in a political world. Such a need could easily injury the chances of a political machine gaining or retaining that kind of power. And the beat goes on!

There are many issues to consider when deciding where those all important ballots will be cast in this year’s election. Up to 30% of Conservative and possibly a similar number of Liberal supporters will blindly follow the leader and vote accordingly even if some of party issues are not agreeable. The excuse being it is the only alternative. That 30% level seems to drop into the low 20’s when reflecting staid New Democrat support. Canadians will experience a minority Conservative or Liberal government with the New Democrats holding the balance of power if current polling numbers hold. However the issues created by the Conservative Harper government dynasty could still be vote influencing enough to change the way Canada will practice politics.

A recent meeting of mayors representing most of Canada’s large cities outlined many of the issues the cities claim must be primary issues for the next government. Three main issues are infrastructure, healthcare, and transit upgrades. The only issue the mayors did not address in the meeting monitored by most media was the billions of dollars the federal and provincial government will be expected to spend in the less populated towns, cities and villages across this vast country. The issues for those citizens probably responsible for swaying the direction of most votes are similar to those of big city counterparts. The transit needs of many cities include subway and local bus route expansion while big issues in the smaller centers is for disintegrating highway improvement including repaving leading to a crisis in expanding basic services, healthcare of course and attracting new industry and commerce.  All the issues expressed by the mayors are items all parties vying to govern the country must deal with effectively.  Promises will be made and broken regardless of which party wins or is awarded control, but the issues are so essential the promises likely should not be blindly accepted. Only concrete plans with details of the methods to accomplish the needs should be acceptable to voters.

The war with ISIS the Harper Conservatives claim is a declared war, albeit by the other side, is an issue that might lend to attracting both pro and con votes.  If one of our warplanes is shot down, a citizen of Canada brutal executed, or a terrorist attack is successful at home, the close Conservative vote according to the polls could easily change. The Liberals have some strong front bench strength with the ability to deal with any such instance even though leader Trudeau is pretty inexperienced in such problems. John Baird’s resignation certainly weakened the Conservative ability to act on such problems but there are still some strong Conservative ministers waiting in the wings. Thomas Mulcair boasts a strong array of NDP shadow ministers with an appearance of having the ability to meet such dire challenges should such be required.

Undoubtedly other election issues of significance will be the issues of aboriginal rights, meeting the current oil crisis and desire or perceived need to build pipelines. The uncertainty of the outcome of an ongoing Ukraine-Russia conflict and the vulnerability of Canada’s Arctic could surface as major election issues.