This has been a deplorable federal election campaign.
The promises have been too grandiose.
The attacks too pointed.
Substance lacking.
Canadian citizens have been wooed with a two-per-cent cut to the GST.
They have been promised $1,200 for childcare expenses for children younger than six years old.
Small business taxes will shrink.
Lakes will be cleaned.
Tax brackets will increase.
Police hired and violence curbed.
Our energy costs will be subsidized.
Seniors will get a $125 supplement to their guaranteed income.
Billions will flow to medicare.
Doctors will be hired.
Prescription drugs will be subsidized.
Home care will expand, as will long-term care for seniors.
And on it goes.
But as gross as the spending promises have been, they are just sugar coating around the campaign’s two central themes — Liberal corruption and the scariness of Conservative leader Stephen Harper.
The English debate was lively, but failed to turn up any inspiring plan or vision for our now-prosperous country.
If we want it to remain so, Canadians must consider the future.
We have to identify opportunities for our country, and also emerging threats. And we must come up with imaginative ways to deal with the threats, and set ourselves up to capitalize and exploit the opportunities.
Has anything like that happened?
Instead, we have offered tax cuts, rebates and supplements — bribed with our own money, which really should be used to build the future infrastructure of our nation.
In 12 days, Canadians will head to the polls either angry with the Liberals or scared about Harper.
And that’s a pretty shallow way to choose a national government. (RM)