The upside of boring

The upside of boring

Canada has so far avoided extremist populism; let's keep it that way

It has often been said that Canadian politics is boring.

In light of what is going on in other countries it seems even more so.

Last week, Boris Johnson led a Conservative Party, from which he has managed to purge any vestiges of moderation, to a resounding victory in the U.K. His main opposition was Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party, which has also drifted out of moderate territory. It even had the gall to call its election platform a “manifesto,” a word that harkens to pre-revolution Russia.

LAST WEEK: More needs to change

In the United States, the White House has been hijacked by a man who is on the verge of being rightfully impeached by the House, which is controlled by a party that is trying to drag the nation hard left (which in American terms means centre-right). He will never be convicted, however, because his party, (which is trying to drag the nation into something out of Margaret Atwood’s imagination) controls the Senate.

Canada’s big political news last week? Andrew Scheer stepped down as Conservative Party leader. The pressure to do so came from both sides. Basically, he was too moderate for some and not moderate enough for others.

The big scandal? The party (not taxpayers) was subsidizing his children’s private school tuition. Yawn.

We have never been so lucky to be so boring.

MORE EDITORIALS:

Get to work on infrastructure

Be gracious

In Canada, we now have a moderate minority government. If it had gone the other way, we would have a moderate minority government.

In our own riding, 86 per cent of voters cast votes for moderate candidates. Let’s call that the silent majority.

Yes, despite what the very noisy extremists on both fringes would have us believe, both Taylor Bachrach and Claire Rattée were moderate candidates.

One attendee of the debate here in Smithers said he left because all the candidates just seemed too buddy-buddy.

We are boring, Canada.

Let’s keep it that way.


editor@interior-news.comLike us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter

Smithers Interior News