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The Federal Election: Much Ado About Nothing

The federal election will generate a lot of noise, but not much in the way of results different from the last one. It's about nothing but grabs for power, so the status quo will probably prevail. Remember the television sitcom Seinfeld, in which they decided they were going to put on a television show "about nothing"? They did a show about nothing for almost a decade.

By Tony Wanless /

Canada’s federal election is looking a lot like a Seinfeld episode – ostensibly something’s happening, but at its core, it’s about nothing.

The federal election will generate a lot of noise, but not much in the way of results different from the last one. It’s about nothing but grabs for power, so the status quo will probably prevail.

Remember the television sitcom Seinfeld, in which they decided they were going to put on a television show “about nothing”? They did a show about nothing for almost a decade.

I can’t help think about the show’s cynical take on entertainment when I watch the current federal election. It looks more and more like a Seinfeld episode. It’s about nothing.

I don’t see why we need it, other than the Conservative party wants a majority and the Liberals and NDP want to deny it. I suspect many people feel the same way.

 
But this doesn’t matter, because the Canadian political landscape has changed considerably in the past few years and the parties are still fighting it out old school in a world that doesn’t exist anymore. 
 
In essence, Canada is now a collection of self-sufficient regions governed (I use the term loosely) by one party or other whose job seems to be delivering financial goodies to those regions. 
 
This began in Quebec, where the Bloc Quebecois has an unassailable hold on the province, and ensures that every federal move, project, or program has to be run through a Quebec filter before it can be implemented. The rallying cry is always, What’s in it for Quebec. 
 
The Bloc’s success has not been lost on other parts of the country, which are now using the same tactics. 
 
The West tends to be primarily Conservative and expects the party to deliver. People in the Maritime provinces divide themselves up between Conservative and Liberal as they have for generations. Ontario generally leans Liberal or NDP in the cities, and Conservative in the rural areas. It’s two regions really, but is so powerful in terms of population and economics, everybody has to bow to it. 
 
This fracturing of the country into regions with their hands out isn’t likely to change much, because there are no real issues involved. At most it appears the minority Conservative government engineered its own downfall so everybody could duke it out again. 
 
Better get used to it. The days when a single party could unite Canada, a la Trudeau or Mulroney, are gone. In today’s Canada no one can agree on anything so continuous warfare will be with us until they come up with some other form of representation.  
 
I suspect this will show up the night of the next election. We’ll have spent a few million to decide … nothing.
Tony Wanless

Tony Wanless