The Cornwall Free News Endorses for the 2011 Federal Election…Editorial by Jamie Gilcig – April 29, 2011 – Cornwall Ontario

Cornwall ON – The Twitterverse pounds you with news if you follow enough scribblers and news sites.  It’s like a rush of heroin without the …..heroin.   It’s a busy Manhattan street or the rush of the London tube.

Just a cacophony of messages; most of them sales pitches and spins.

This has been a short and ugly election.    The Conservatives have seemed to be going into a hide mode for the most part hoping it seems to have as little debate as possible and many of their media friends have obliged them.

Of course many of the candidates have contributed to this too.

An example.  In our riding last election the local daily carried daily schedules for all of the candidates.  This year they did not.   Nor were they on most of the candidates websites.

The parties that have done the best in this election have grasped new media.   You can’t go to most major websites for example without seeing a Jack Layton NDP ad.  No, we didn’t have one on ours, but it was noticed on others.

Young people have gone viral on politics.  You can see video after video and message after message on facebook and you tube.

Sites like leadnow.ca have mobilized and made a way thousands of young and older Canadians could move into the political arena.

According to the polls Mr. Harper isn’t going to get his majority, and from where I sit that’s a good thing.  I don’t think in the end that he’s earned it and it looks like the people of Canada don’t think so either.  Now the question is if he will find a dance partner to retain power or not after the election?

Michael Ignatieff?  Well I don’t think he’s done a horrible job.  The problem is that he really needed to do a great job.  The Liberals got off to a great start but seemed to get derailed after week 2.

Jack Layton and the NDP?  Well I don’t think anyone in the NDP was expecting a majority win, but I don’t think they expected to do as well as they have so far; at least at the polls?  Whether or how much that carries over into seats we’ll find out Monday.

I feel bad for Elizabeth May and the Green party of Canada.   The party, rightly or wrongly, have focused on getting her elected and it’s going to be a close one indeed.  One site I was looking at today had her very close to the top, but NDP and Liberals were bleeding her support.   As a brief former Green candidate I appreciate the many fine qualities Ms May possesses and I still feel embarrassed for our country by the dirty pool of keeping her out of the Televised debates.

Speaking of which in our own riding there’s been some chicanery which impacted our ability to cover the local election, but I’m going to wait until after May 2 to proceed with that story.

So dear viewer, if you’re still reading at this point I should share my endorsement.

The Cornwall Free News for the 2011 Federal Canadian Election endorses……Canada.

I endorse my country.   I endorse it for its good and for its bad.  I endorse Canada for our general good manners and ability to have patience with our neighbours no matter how diverse and odd they can be.   I endorse Canada for our ability to communicate and for the voice I have to be writing this when in many countries my voice would be silenced as per the wishes of the minority in this town that attempted that.

We have a lot to be proud of in Canada, and I feel so glad to see more people getting involved politically at so many different levels.

I expect that more Canadians will have voted in this election than the last one and that’s something I endorse.   Can we better as a country?  Absolutely.  I think Canada has planted some seeds; some which will come into play on May 2nd, but many more which will bear fruit for years to come.

Proudly Canadian; I endorse Canada.

Jamie Gilcig – Editor – The Cornwall Free News

 

(Comments and opinions of Editorials, Letters to the Editor, and comments from readers are purely their own and don’t necessarily reflect those of the owners of this site, their staff, or sponsors.)

 

JL Computers

 

5 Comments

  1. Creative endorsement. I too endorse Canada. I may not like the election results but I love Canada. We live in a democracy that I cherish.

  2. Well endorsed!

  3. Which ever way it goes, Canada is my country also and for this reason I tried to make a difference & always will. The good thing about Harper not getting his majority? As he said, the Border Security deal will be history and that is a good thing as it was just the 1st stage of a North American Union which would of been bad for our country. It will be interesting to see if Harper can be a team leader, doubt that will ever happen with him.

  4. All of us competing candidates endorse Canada. We may have different philosophies, but we each individually believe that we are doing good for Canada. I endorse all candidates taking action.

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