Buck Up, Canada!

The Canadian federal election, after an agonizingly slow start, has now kicked into high gear. With the politicians crisscrossing the country campaigning, the party websites up and functioning, and the airwaves filled with partisan ads and commercials, it must be time for the traditional wringing of the hands over the negativity of our political campaigns. The media partakes in this willingly: our newscasts offer up polls on who is the ‘nastiest’ leader and our newspapers run columns denouncing the mean-spiritedness of the campaign so far. And individual Canadians are again complaining that our politics is too dirty, too harsh. This is absurd. This campaign has offered little in the way of negativity, with the exception of a pooping puffin. There has yet to be anything in the way of a controversial attack, a personal insult or a smear campaign—nothing. Canadians seem to hold this ideal of a friendly and civil campaign, but we must remember that on October 14 the country is holding an election, not a harvest ball; we are not electing a homecoming queen, we are electing a head of state. And in this contest there is no prize for congeniality and there’s no award for good sportsmanship. Only one person can claim victory on election night and it should not be based on who ran the campaign with a smile. Elections must be adversarial as they are competitions to see who is most capable to lead our country. The leaders have to display to us why they are the best choice (by presenting their ideas and qualifications) but they must also demonstrate why the other choices are wrong (by attacking and undermining the other guys.) Some people tend to confuse any ad or comment that questions or challenges the opponent as wrong. But this is not dirty pool, its politics and politics is meant to be a contact sport. By making those who seek office compete for our votes, we can see how our perspective leaders will handle challenges. If a candidate is confronted during the campaign, it is an opportunity for him to showcase his knowledge, wit, political skill and fortitude. If a party leader can’t handle a criticism during the campaign, how is he going to handle similar criticisms or attacks when they come from an aggressive Russian President, an angry European envoy, or a protectionist American Congress? The Prime Minister’s Office is not the place to first see how our leaders handle adversity; the campaign trail is. Our electoral system depends on allowing candidates to draw these kinds of distinctions between themselves and their opponents without being labeled as ‘negative’. If we were to do away with all kinds of negativity and make our politicians play nice, our elections would be even duller, our candidates less tested, and our democracy worse off. So buck up, Canada! The campaign has just started and if you think it’s too rough-and-tumble now, it is just getting warmed up.