When Canadians vote in fear, they get color blind

Everything is on the line, NDP’s George Wedge says

Well, here we are again in Federal Election mode. What a 9 years it’s been – and of course, once again, everything is on the line.

What with the Trump economic threats of tariffs and annexation, global affairs and wars raging in two world regions, Canadians have been tasked with choosing “The Right Party” to guide the Country through, what might be, one of our most critical threats to life as we knew it.

I’ve come to realize in my 44 years of voting in elections that when Canadians vote in fear, they get color blind. All they seem to see is Red and Blue, much like our American friends south of the border.

What they fail to remember in these times is Red and Blue always means Working Class Families come last when it comes to strategic planning and policy development.

Yes, all parties say they know what it’s like to be in our shoes, but when it comes to how they help us, there are distinct Party Policy differences in how they do what they do.

We all know the Conservatives think helping working class families means making it easier and more profitable for big corporations doing business in Canada, expecting that those Corporations will do the responsible thing and hire more workers and pay them fairly based on their profits.

History would say that doesn’t work out for working class families, so why should we expect this time to be different?

We all know the Liberals like their temporary relief programs. You know the type…CERB, Carbon Tax Credit, GST Holiday. All temporary, and based on what the Liberals think is a working-class family income, doesn’t really help as many families as they would have you believe, and why is it that the cheque they send is only ever 10 per cent of what you actually need? Well, that’s because all they really wanted to do was be able to say they did something. That’s not really what Canadian Families expect, but time and time again, we enable the behavior.

Then there is the NDP. What do they actually stand for? Well, I guess by now you’ve heard about “Pharma-Care” and the “Senior Dental Program.” Those are NDP initiatives that only saw the light of day because of NDP’s influence with only 25 seats in Parliament.

The NDP’s core values are based on the principals of Canada’s century-old labor movement. The very same movement that got us minimum wage, partnered with Big Business to create sustainable well-paying jobs, and corporate success stories in Mining, Energy, Forestry, Skilled Trades, Aviation/Aerospace, Automotive, and Communications Industries plus others.

Based on those success stories, it would be fair to say that the NDP understand what it really means to represent Working Class Families at the table, whether its renegotiating the USMCA, creating Taxation Policies to make sure that the Working Class isn’t on the hook for the bulk of the tax load while the wealthiest people in Canada take advantage of loop-holes and off-shore havens, or creating Family Heath Policies to prevent hardships for those in our communities we all know can’t afford to maintain their health.

Now that we understand how each party operates, what about the Party Leaders?

As a candidate in this upcoming election, I’m not excited about voters thinking they know me because of how they feel about my party’s leader. I am not the leader, and the leader is not me.

We share the same core values, want to progressively advance our agenda to make a better life for Canadian Working-Class Families and our Seniors, care deeply for our Country of Canada, and will fight like hell to protect it. If you want to know me, you should talk to me. If you don’t like the party leader, that’s OK, but you need to know, I would represent you as your Member of Parliament, not the party Leader. I have tremendous respect for our elected leaders. It’s not an easy job but no different than in any organization, the members are in control. If they lose confidence in their leadership, then leadership will be changed.

Of course, it wouldn’t hurt if my leader was polling #1 in Canada.

If you vote for a party that doesn’t support Working Class Families, don’t be surprised when you don’t get support.