Toronto Star article

There's an article in the Star today that talks about the Toronto area and their views of the Liberals and the Conservatives.

At first I was just reading this article and then after a while I found myself alternately laughing and yelling at the screen. I felt I had to rebut this article here, because it's so funny and stupid.

The premise is this: the writer went around talking to normal people all round the 905 area code. The responses were essentially in question to "what do you think of Harper and Martin?" I'll clip and respond as I find stuff to rebut. Here goes.

"I'm not too keen on the Conservatives, but how else can you house clean?" computer technician Dave Archibald says over lunch at a Port Hope doughnut shop. A former ironworker, Archibald grew up in a union household and describes himself as "basically a New Democrat."

"I still remember (former Conservative prime minister) Brian Mulroney," he says with some distaste. "But something has to be done about the corruption."

Amen, brother. We must never forget the corruption the Liberals have perpetrated upon Canada. It's unprecedented.

...

"I'm scared of the Conservatives because of Harris," says unemployed security officer Gord Bell, as he cradles 5-month-old daughter Colleen in the front hall of his Pickering townhouse. "It's hard to forgive and forget. I still may end up voting Liberal. I've always favoured the Liberals. But the Conservatives look quite good right now ... A change in government may be what we need."

Scared of Conservatives because of Harris. Am I wrong in saying, then, that despite the pain he inflicted, Harris did exactly what he said he'd do? If so, then tell me what's scary about what Harper is putting forth. Personally, in some areas, I don't think he goes far enough. But that's just a Winnipegger's (formerly a Vancouverite's) opinion.

What would finally convince him?

"Someone has to do something about gun crime. I have two kids and don't know if we can walk down the street in Toronto ... That's what driving me to the Conservatives. They say they'll do something. But I don't know if they are lies or not. If they can seriously do something about guns and crime, that would be a benefit."

Of course, you know whether or not the Liberals are lying. Snicker.

A few blocks away, Troy Gibson, a 32-year-old event planner, says that for the first time in his life, he's going to vote Conservative.

"My parents tell me to go Liberal again," says Gibson, who lives at home with his mother and father. "But there's too much blood in the water. I'm thinking Stephen Harper now, even though he is inexperienced. His proposals are clearer than Martin's."

Troy's father, Fred, who has retired from the high-technology business, says he will stick with Martin.

"I am a Liberal. I don't always agree with them but I identify with them most closely ... I would like an independent leader who doesn't always follow the U.S. That's not the way with Harper."

Well, so much for the Conservatives being the party of stodgy old men.

In Markham, consultant Reg Jordan says he found Harper too frightening in 2004. "The gay thing (Harper's opposition to same-sex marriage) really turned me off his party. That is scary.

"But this time, I think he's going to leave abortion alone. His fiscal policy is better ... His social policy is on the edge of scary, but I don't think he'll do anything there."

And in the end, Jordan says, he sees no alternative.

"You just can't vote for the Liberals."

"The gay thing? The one where he said he'd allow a free vote in Parliament if someone else proposed a bill? Why are you scared? Because actual democracy scares you? And of course he's going to leave abortion alone. Oddly enough (in my opinion). He said exactly that.

...

A few houses away, mortgage broker Karu Selliah expresses the uncertainty of someone who is not happy with the Liberals but not sure if he can trust the Conservatives.

"I'm 50-50," he says. "So far, I support the Liberals. I like what they say about gun control and gas prices; hopefully, they will do something. I'm still supporting the Liberals."

Gun control? Ummm buddy, don't know know handguns are already ostensibly banned? When Martin announced this policy plank, I thought, in the words of Don Brodka (from the Simpsons), "If I wanted smoke blown up my ass I'd be at home with a pack of cigarettes and a short length of hose."

In Richmond Hill, software engineer Chris Gorgani is just preparing to sit down to dinner with his family. But he's willing to stand at his door and tick off some of the issues that he says are important.

First and foremost, he says, is health care. "None of them will deliver. The Conservatives are going to privatize; the Liberals just flash a little more money. Neither has a proper plan."

But the bottom line, he says, is that the Liberals have to go.

"I've voted Liberal the past several elections. But this time, I think it will be the Conservatives. Paul Martin should be sitting in the opposition chair."

Gorgani says he is making his choice with some trepidation and hopes Harper wins only enough seats to form a minority government.

"I'm not a Conservative. The Conservatives are a mirror image of the Republicans in the U.S. But let's give them a chance."

Mirror image of the Republicans? DUDE! The CPC is to the left of the Democrats!

In Oshawa, Monique Collins says she feels badly for Martin. A long-time Liberal voter, she went with the Conservatives in 2004 and says she'll do the same again.

"I feel we need change," she says. "I like Stephen Harper's approach. He has a fresh, new image. The Liberals want to control your life from birth to death. Mr. Harper tried to give you back your life — to a point.

"It may not all work out. But at least it will be an attempt."

Exactly. Give him a chance. Harper cannot possibly mess it up any worse than Martin!

...

In Port Hope, retired Bell employee Jaci Michaelis wrestles with her decision. "I'm undecided. I'm not Conservative, but I may vote for them. I'm getting closer to voting for them.

"Maybe we should let them in so they can fall flat on their face and wreck us like Mike Harris did. I'm afraid of what they don't say as much as what they do say. So, maybe I'll vote New Democrat, or Liberal — or Conservative."

You're afraid of what they don't say? So you must be scared of everyone. Because almost nobody says they're going to take an axe and chop your arm off. Just because they're not saying it doesn't mean they're not thinking it, right? Sheesh. This is the same logic as the Liberals used (oops, logic? silly me) in their ad. You know, the one that "wasn't approved", "was personally approved by me", and "some idiot approved".

A few doors away, Maureen Godfrey and Bruce Beatty invite me into their kitchen, where they pick up a conversation they've been engaged in for some time. Both cast ballots for the Liberals in 2004, which helped local MP Paul Macklin to squeak in by 313 votes. But this time, Beatty, a retired Pitney-Bowes worker, is edging toward the Conservatives.

"I'm fed up with the Liberals," he says. "It doesn't mean I won't vote for them. I'm on the fence. The Liberals are too lax with law and order. And that Young Offenders Act is a crock.

"But then I hear Harper on that same-sex thing or the abortion issue. When I read what he'd said (that he would allow a free vote in Parliament on banning same-sex marriage), I said `I'm not voting for him.' Then, Martin said all of that stuff about the notwithstanding clause (Martin has promised to amend the Constitution so that elected MPs would no longer have the power to override certain kinds of Supreme Court decisions) and I disagree with that."

On same-sex marriage: that he'd allow a free vote. Ooh, scary that democracy might be practised. On abortion: he has no plan to do anything. Ooh, scary. Although to me, abortions on demand (at private clinics, no less) up to the date of delivery is scary. Call me a scary socon or neocon or whatever derogatory name you like. I'm big. I can take it.

"Oh, I do too," says Godfrey, a bookkeeper. "We don't vote for judges. They're just supposed to interpret the law.

Good point. And I think that's the most compelling reason not to vote Liberal.

...

Godfrey shakes her head. "I'll vote for Martin," she says. "I prefer him to Harper. I don't trust Harper. For some reason, there's something about him. As a woman. He has this little smirky smile. I just don't like it."

Smirky smile. Okay. Scary Harper, but you can't put your finger on it. That's thinking!

Indeed, if the Liberals have any hope in the 905, their best chance seems to lie with those voters, often women, who still can't stomach Harper. I run into plenty of them, too.

"Anybody but Stephen Harper," says Markham graphic designer Ann Orr.

"I will vote Liberal because I absolutely don't trust the man."

Orr lists Conservative policies, from gay marriage to child care, that she finds lacking or just plan wrong. But she keeps coming back to Harper.

"I just hope everyone gets their act together and doesn't give us a Conservative government ... If people think Stephen Harper has changed, they'll be in for a rude shock."

"I absolutely don't trust the man." Does that mean that you trust Martin? If so, wow. I mean, wow. Gay marriage--I've mentioned this twice. I won't repeat. I can't change your mind on child care, I guess. On this, I believe Martin's plan is just plain wrong. So that's just a complete disagreement, and I can respect that. But blind fear based on who knows what? Come on.

In Pickering, nurse Natasha Johnston says that while the Liberal government has been good in most areas, it went too far when it legalized same-sex marriage. She also doesn't approve of Martin's plan to remove Parliament's right to overturn certain kinds of Supreme Court decisions.

But she says she could never vote for Harper — not under any circumstances.

"There's just something about him," she says. "It's not his looks. There's just something about him."

"Something about him. That's great logic.

A few doors away, Jacqueline Brackett shakes her head vehemently when asked about Harper.

"All he wants to do is take away, not give," she says. She'll be voting Liberal.

Unlike Martin, who gave. Except it was to his buddies and political lackies. In brown envelopes. I'm not making this up.

At a Canadian Tire store in Ajax, Ron and Leslie Spaeth say they too have no time for Harper.

"A snake in the grass," says Ron, a trucker.

"He never looks you straight in the eye," says Leslie, a computer trainer. "He reminds me of (Ontario Liberal Premier) Dalton McGuinty."

Okay, I'm willing to bet a lot of money these people have never met Harper in person. But let's just say they have. He never looks you straight in the eye? Really? And yes, I suppose these people are being metaphorical. If so, please educate me as to how Harper isn't looking you straight in the eye. He's released his platform. He's not ducked a question. He's answered everything honestly. So please, enlighten me, O Ontari-airy-o voters.

In Markham, 23-year-old Sarah Comper is making dinner when I appear at her front door.

"I'm looking at the Liberals," the Ryerson University business student says. "It's not that I like the Liberals. It's that I don't like the Conservatives.

"Stephen Harper scares me. I just don't know why."

Again, brilliant reasoning. That's the kind of thinking I want voting on the future of my country.

Up the street, pharmaceutical sale representative Cathy Fullarton says she's always voted Liberal. "It's a scary thought," she says, referring to the recent sponsorship scandals associated with the Liberals. "I don't tell my neighbours."

But she doesn't think Harper would make a good prime minister.

"He doesn't seem firm," she says. "I see him as being swayed — especially when dealing with foreign countries ... like the United States or China."

Right. Because Martin was so good at dealing with the States. Besides, when dealing with friends and allies, you need compromise. Jean Poutine and Martin couldn't understand that, and as a result our relationship with the United States is frosty, to say the least.

Still, there are some female voters in the 905 region who are amenable to Harper.

Lucy Cunningham is a business development manager in Richmond Hill. She says she voted for the NDP in the last election, but this time will support the Conservatives.

"We need change," she says. "New blood." As someone who has lived in Alberta, she says she is not repelled by Harper. Quite the contrary.

"He's straightforward. He's good looking too. He's younger. And maybe the younger generation should have a chance at running Canada. ...

"I know he loves Canada. Having said that, I don't see him as reaching out to a diverse culture."

I like the way this woman thinks.

In nearby Markham, Mary Brown says she too is not put off by Harper. She's planning to switch her vote to the Conservatives because she thinks, as finance minister during the sponsorship scandal, Martin should take some responsibility for whatever money was wasted.

Definitely. Lying or incompetent, he had to have been. And I'm not comfortable having the PM of our country be either.

...

Another possible source of Liberal support lies among voters who have been paying little attention to the past seven weeks of an election campaign that has not gone well for Martin.

At a Rona building supply store in Brampton, Bell Canada manager John Marsella says he hasn't been following the campaign and will probably vote Liberal "because I've always been a Liberal kind of guy."

Oh good. The Liberals may benefit from people who haven't been paying attention. Isn't that just a great bunch of people to have voting. People who have lo idea what's going on.

Man, this article really got me going. I suppose, though, it serves to remind me that not all voters pay as much attention as I do. Does that make me a political junkie? ;)