Another election night. I'm not one of those people who doesn't care about politics. To the contrary, I've been glued to the radio or TV for every federal and provincial election since before I was old enough to vote - except for the one that took place while my husband and I were living in Papua New Guinea. In fact, I worked my first campaign when I was just 10 years old and my mom sent me out leafletting on behalf of her candidate.
Some of my happiest memories are of being curled up in bed with Mum watching federal leadership contests. She was a loyal Liberal but we watched Conservative and NDP leadership races too. In those days, there was drama and lots of it since voting often dragged out over three or four ballots that took days to be cast and counted.
Tonight, as I watched the election results come in, I wondered what happened to my country - the one with national leaders who had ideas and principles and cared about people, communities and good public policy.
It's said we get the government we deserve. Assuming that's true, the results of this election are a tragic comment on the state of our democracy. Apparently, we have come to deserve a government that lies and bullies and shows nothing but contempt for Parliament, our cherished national institutions, and the majority of voters. Oh, my Canada...
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