Confessions of a Shiftless Mind

“On a personal level Stronach, a moderate, is probably a better fit with
the Liberals…”

M.K.Braaten posted this article out of the Toronto Star. The above statement concerns me, because of the implication. The implication is that moderates reside in the Liberal Party, and in reciprocal fashion, the extremists reside in the Conservative party.

Funny how language changes isn’t it? At one time, “conservative” meant moderate. It meants keeping things relatively status quo. It meant traditionalism, tried-and-true. “Liberal” was once synonymous with radical, with change, with moving boundaries, with stretching to limits and beyond. With living on the edge, with extreme choices. Now they have successfully flipped.

Or have they?

I mean, in the good old days, government was small. People were free to do what they wanted, police enforced laws and criminals went to jail. Last time I checked, the Conservative party was for smaller government, stronger sentences, and less invasion into personal privacy and lives of citizens. You would think it would be easy to sell this to the public.

However, I am becoming concerned that the Conservatives are losing their direction. They seem to be losing focus completely. Now, they are morphing into what I can only describe as “uncorrupt Liberals”. But people won’t buy that.

I won’t buy that. I don’t want to vote for a party who is just not corrupt - mainly because neither I nor anyone else really believes that an entire party can be free from corruption. It is all about degrees. I want an alternative. I want a party that stands for something.

At least the Bloc is clear about what it stands for: separatism and Quebec. The Liberals don’t have to stand for anything because they have the power. But the Conservatives, who want to supplant the Liberals - they MUST stand for SOMETHING or Canadians will have no reason to change.

I can’t believe it. My righteous indignation towards Ontarian voters is finally starting to ebb. I thought they just couldn’t see what the Conservatives stand for. Maybe it is me that is blind. Maybe I am the one with the wool pulled over my eyes, trying to see that the CPC still has its roots in the highly principled Reform Party, or the slightly less principled Alliance Party. Only now am I beginning to see that the CPC is no longer grounded by those firm roots, and is simply adrift, like the Liberals on the sea of voters’ apathy. If they can’t put down some roots and stand for something I may not even be able to muster the fortitude to vote for them.

I sure as heck won’t vote Liberal. Or NDP. And I am not sure about the CPC. What does that leave me with as a Western Canadian?

Local interests. Time to form the Bloc Occidental.