A zombie election none of us want

Except the prime minister of a thousand faces

Canada’s upcoming election is like that monolith that turned up in a Utah desert a few months back: no one knew where it came from, what it meant or why it was there. It just was.

Similarly, the need for Canada’s Liberal government to seek an extension on its mandate is a puzzle, as well. Other than Prime Minister Justin Trudeau thinking he might win, what’s it about? Is there a great national uncertainty that needs addressing? An initiative so controversial it requires voter approval? Has evidence emerged that Canadians so enjoy elections they’d love another just two years after the last?

Regardless, Trudeau has been jetting round the country making clear he’s tired of heading a minority government and wants a shot at a majority. His party and advisers have been preparing the way for months. He’s already begun campaigning, pledging billions for initiatives transparently calculated to win votes. A $120-million housing project for you! A $5.2-billion hydro project bailout for you!

A $25-million wind turbine factory for you! Get it while it’s hot, folks: money for everyone … you sir, over there, could you use some extra cash? And such cute children, are they yours?

He’s shaved off the beard that, speckled with grey, lent him an air of gravitas during the dark months of the pandemic, and is back to the boyish, clean-shaven look of the PRE-COVID years. This is a prime minister who takes imagery very seriously. Youth and vitality were the theme of the 2015 campaign. The pandemic demanded a more circumspect look, so he adapted as needed. Now it’s back to youth and enterprise, so goodbye oldguy beard, hello tousled hair and cheery optimism. He’s the prime minister of a thousand faces.

The campaign will surely focus on the government’s COVID performance — did I get you vaccines, or did I get you vaccines? — and all that money that was spent. Would tight-fisted Tories have doubled the debt on Canadians’ behalf? Would Conservative Leader Erin O’toole have sent $636 million to teenagers? Presumably Trudeau feels he did a good job and voters will demonstrate their gratitude, notwithstanding a few debacles along the way (don’t … cough … anyone … cough … mention WE!).

Still, it seems like we’re being pushed into something we could easily live without: weeks of politicians asserting what a great job they’d be doing, if they weren’t out campaigning instead of doing it; time and money spent at the behest of a government that is in no danger of being ousted in the first place, and apparently just wants a greater sense of security. Why would the Liberals need more security, if they’re doing such a great job, anyway?

The polls are tepid at best. The Liberals are apparently ahead, though by how much is open to debate. You have to wonder about polls taken in the summer in the midst of a pandemic, especially after 16 months in which opposition figures have been virtually silenced while the prime minister enjoyed regular access to an often confused and compliant media. What happens when the other guys finally get a chance to speak? Are the prime ministerial gurus safe in guessing voters won’t prove to be just a bit tired of the Trudeau crowd and susceptible to alternatives?

Victory, as usual, will depend on Ontario, which says its mask mandate won’t be lifted even as it moves to the next step of its reopening plan. No date has been set for when it might exit that step, either. It’s possible the prime minister and his Liberal candidates could find themselves hailing their COVID victory while still hidden from the nose down due to the danger of the latest variant.

The border is not fully open. Americans can visit Canada, but Canadians won’t share similar ease of access to the United States until Washington gives the word, and there’s no sign when that might be. There are new outbreaks in British Columbia, and considerable unease at Alberta’s decision to throw aside caution and declare that happy days have returned. Canadians aren’t allowed into England or Scotland without quarantining, although vaccinated Europeans and Americans are.

Liberals may feel they’ve beaten the virus and it’s time to march in triumph, but every day new headlines speak of gloom: heat domes, wildfires, culture wars, unmarked graves and an uneasy sense, among some at any rate, that a country can’t live forever on a policy of borrowed money and low interest rates, and the hope that nothing unforeseen ever comes along to upset that delicate balance.

Of course there are always going to be gloomy headlines — that’s what headline-writers do — but Canada 2021 doesn’t strike me as a giddy country just happy to be alive. Just two years ago, voters showed themselves to be less than enthralled with Trudeau: Conservatives, under the eminently uncharismatic Andrew Scheer attracted more votes than Liberals did, and the government was reduced to a minority. Is it so obvious they’ve enjoyed a resurgence in affection since then? After the better part of two years handing out money, they’re the first choice of barely a third of the electorate.

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh is accorded equal positives and fewer negatives than the prime minister. O’toole’s performance has decidedly lacked traction, but he’s hardly been allowed to leave his living room since the pandemic hit. Liberal hopes will once again have to centre on Trudeau, given the lack of depth to his tired front bench.

Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan should long since have been relieved of his duties and his department handed to someone with a fighting chance of rescuing a military in crisis. Indigenous Relations Minister Carolyn Bennett shares with Sajjan the status of retaining her position through the sheer stubbornness of a prime minister who’s unwilling to acknowledge failure. Voters have been seeing the same faces for six years and could be excused for wondering what so many of them have been doing with their time.

It’s a zombie election — not really alive, but hard to kill. Never underestimate the survival instincts of the Liberal Party, however. Cynicism and borrowed money have served them well for many years. If they smell success on the wind, they may be right. Which would be to Justin Trudeau’s benefit, if not necessarily ours.

IT SEEMS WE’RE BEING PUSHED INTO SOMETHING WE COULD EASILY LIVE WITHOUT.