Is this election a good thing or bad thing?
With the federal election called earlier this month, it has people riled up about heading to the polls during the pandemic. I’m not ranting about that this week, however I’m going to share how the election call makes me look at the bigger picture.
For people who are critical of the timing of next month’s vote, I understand their concern. It’s still dangerous to be in close proximity to large groups and if we can avoid casting a ballot in public, we should. By all accounts, Elections Canada is taking care of that not-so-minor detail with mail-in votes.
On the other hand, people think this is Justin Trudeau giving Canadians a chance to side with him and prove that they’re happy with his performance as prime minister. But wait, there’s more. There’s also the groups that feel the exact opposite and that this is our chance to get him out of office and start new with a different PM as the pandemic seemingly worsens again in the coming months.
Either way, a shift in power could work in our favour or it could be a clunky transition.
Remember, when Donald Trump refused to play nice and make it easy for Joe Biden to take over the White House, it caused mass confusion and it delayed response and action to the pandemic at the time, according to reports.
Is that something Trudeau would do if he lost or would he be civil and make it a smooth transition? Time will tell, I guess.
I agree that the focus right now should be getting our country back on track amid devastating events playing out with rising COVID numbers, to wildfires across the country, to the drama in Afghanistan. (There are other major issues, of course, but these are making headlines right now.)
Am I against the election? Not exactly. I certainly don’t support everything that Trudeau has been involved in recently so his party wouldn’t likely get my vote, anyway. But I don’t know if a rushed campaign and forcing Canadians to make big decisions right now is the best thing to do.
Think about it: Even TV shows like The Voice give people weeks and months to make up their mind and choose their favourite. Here we are electing a prime minister in under a month with little preparation and much scrambling.
Lastly, with the campaign already into heavy mudslinging that’s prompted Twitter to tag posts with “manipulated” disclaimers, I question how mature (meaning juvenile) the rest of the campaign will be. In the end, does anybody acting like that deserve your vote?
