Our Vote in 2021

It was no surprise when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called for a September federal election thispast Sunday. I expected this, having bored Ruth, my wife, with my views on the timing of vaccination rollouts and percentages in relation to when the election would take place. I feel that this is self-serving and opportunistic on the part of the Liberals and totally unnecessary at this time.

We were pleasantly surprised to hear that  the same day our son and daughter-in-law went through the CBC Vote Compass with their eight-year-old to establish his preferences. It was a challenge to explain what certain issues are in language he could understand but he's a bright kid and completed the process. https://votecompass.cbc.ca/canada

Whatever our annoyance may be about the election, we do need to decide what our priorities for a federal government are and vote accordingly. There are lots of important social issues and I'll be listening to what parties have to say about Indigenous justice. My first priority is what I believe is the most important for our nation and all others, which is the climate emergency or calamity or whatever term we want to use.

This said, climate was not high on the agenda for the two largest political parties yesterday and reporters chose not to ask about the issue. Sure wildfires are devastating large swathes of Canada, the North is experiencing unprecedented warmth, and other regions have been dealing with extraordinary flooding. Yet the party in power is stubbornly sticking with oil pipelines while the party which figures its got a decent chance of winning couldn't get convention delegates to agree that climate change is real and a threat to everything, including the economy they vaunt. 

I've pointed out before that there were no democracies in Jesus' time, no opportunity to vote for leaders or issues. Still, I feel that it's a sacred trust to choose political leaders whose policies best reflect our gospel-informed values. 

If you're wondering, I won't say which party my grandson favoured, but I will tell you that the Conservatives were out of the running. I'm with him on that one. 

Here is a United Church election resource as well: 

https://united-church.ca/news/united-church-canadas-election-resources-now-available