Right in the centre - What has changed in two years

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Published on Friday, September 17, 2021

By Ken Waddell

Neepawa Banner & Press

The last federal election was less than two years ago.

This year’s election is only being held to fulfill Prime Minister Trudeau’s personal plans. I have written about that before. There is no other reason except one and that is to get rid of the Liberal government. I feel badly for people who honestly and genuinely hold to traditional liberal views. They have been betrayed by the Trudeaus past and present.

After the 2019 election I wrote that “the results graphically showed that the Liberal Party did very poorly west of the Ontario-Manitoba border. In fact, they didn’t do all that great in Quebec either. For a federal party to be shut out of Saskatchewan and Alberta states loudly that their message is not going over well in those two provinces. The Liberals also lost seats in Manitoba and B.C. The cries of western separation came out loud and clear.” There were rallies and conferences planned all over Alberta to discuss the steps toward separation.

The anger felt by westerners was not unfounded. The Liberals have been trying to crush the Alberta and Saskatchewan oil industry for decades. Two generations of the Trudeau family have openly expressed their disdain for western oil. Quebec refuses to allow a pipeline to the east and seems to favour Saudi oil for some strange reason. I suspect it has a lot to do with the idea that the Irving refineries are heavily invested in oil tanker ships and their refineries reportedly can’t refine oilsands oil. 

I also asked why the media, and Elections Canada, allow the Bloc Quebecois to even participate in the leaders’ debates. They have no intention of being a national party, so why are the even allowed on the stage? That’s a mystery to me. It’s also a mystery why they don’t allow Maxime Bernier (PPC) to be in the debates. He at least claims to be national party.

I know Bernier fairly well. He is charming. He will also defeat his own declared intentions of beating the Liberals because he will draw votes away from the Conservatives.

For the most part, the mainstream media has had a longstanding bias in favour of the Liberals and NDP. There are several reasons for that. One, journalism schools are geared to socialism, or at least to a strong government intervention model. They are generally opposed to people expressing their faith and would be more comfortable if “religious” people would just stay quiet. 

Separation isn’t likely to fly because Canadians are generally loyalists and the constitution doesn’t really allow for it. It may not make sense or be feasible for the prairies to separate, but it is time for the three prairie provinces to get their economic act together. Waiting on federal fairness has not worked for the past 150 years, so why would we wait for that to change?

It’s important to vote, but it is amazing how many parties there are. Quite frankly, I believe more than three doesn’t make sense. I am not sure we need more than two.

I have often encouraged people in the NDP or Green party to get involved with the Liberals or the Conservatives and bring their ideas forward. The Greens and NDP are not likely ever going to form government. Even less so will the Maverick Party, the Peoples’ Party of Canada or the Christian Heritage Party. They have a narrow list of policies. It would be better if they got involved, truly involved, with one of the two main parties and worked to bring their ideas to the forefront. A lot of good talent in the splinter parties is wasted on tilting at windmills instead of actually bringing about good policies. It’s too bad, really, as there are some good people and good ideas outside of the Liberal and Conservative parties, but the ideas will never see the light of day hidden in the splinter groups. God bless those who toil for the smaller parties, but I think their time and talents are being wasted.

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this column are the writer’s personal views and are not to be taken as being the view of the Banner & Press staff.