Thursday, June 12, 2014

Clear as Mud


What is today's provincial election all about? Well, I've been watching the TV ads and it is as clear as mud...slinging. It was a relief when the Cone of Silence descended on advertising so we no longer have to watch the three main parties wale away at one another with ever-increasing vehemence and vitriol. To add to it all, the OPP got in on the attacks, leading to speculation that they were breaking the law by doing so. These ads, as you well know, had nothing to do with party stands on issues -- God forbid! It was a combination of fear-mongering, yelling shame, and criticizing bad math.

I kept waiting for something, anything, to be said about poverty in this province and the effects of underemployment and unemployment. I know we have been promised a million jobs, but so many people are of an age and skill set that they won't be marching cheerfully into workplaces any time soon. How do we help lift those who have limited education and social resources out of the downward spiral of poverty?

I find the CBC News Ontario Votes site helpful, but poverty isn't on their list of issues. http://www.cbc.ca/elections/ontariovotes2014/features/view/compare-party-platforms/ The environment is, but you won't find anything there particularly encouraging. In fact, one party's environmental platform could be termed anti-environmental.

As a Christian who wants justice issues to be at least acknowledged, this election has been massively underwhelming. Shame on the parties for scrambling around in the mud like badly behaved kids. I expected more.

Well, off to vote! How about you?

No comments: