The Man Who Would be King, or Prime Minister, as the Case May Be

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I hesitated over whether or not I would write a blog entry about Canada's current political situation. I have a lot of opinions about what has gone on on Parliament Hill this year, and of course since the election in October. But I have decided, at least for now, not to write them out, mostly, because I don't want to get myself all rilled up again by writing all of my anger and frustration down. There is just one thing that I will say.

Canadians don't like leaders who are nice guys. That, above all other things, I think has been made evident in the last 2 months. Good guys get a really bad shake in the race to be Prime Minister. I say this because that is what I see happening to Stephane Dion. I, personally, feel really, really bad for Stephane Dion. And I say that with complete sincerity, despite the fact that I have voted for the NDP every chance I have gotten since I turned 18.

I think that Stephane Dion is just a really smart, really nice guy who sincerely wants to do things to make it better. He is honestly that politician who is the guy next door, your dorky neighbore who raises money for cancer research every year and aways volunteers for his kids school. And, though that is the kind of person most Canadians seem to want as their MP, evidenced by the fact that Dion has been in the House for 12 years, it is apparently not the kind of person they want as their Prime Minister.

I feel really bad for these kinds of Party Leaders, of which I count two in recent Canadian history, Stephane Dion and Joe Clark. Genuine guys who seemed to want to be the kind of Prime Minister simply so that they can do good things for the country. Both have had their careers ruined when it became evident that Canadians, in the end, didn't want them. Which I think says a sad thing about Canadian politics. We want someone that we can host at our kitchen table to represent us in the House of Commons, but we only want macho cowboys to lead our country.

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