How to Lose an Election

 

This past year I ran as a candidate representing the People’s Party of Canada. While I have a lot of relevant qualifications that, compared to my competition, was at minimum on par, but typically far better than my opponents I lost. I came in a distant fourth.

If it had been a “fair fight” I would tuck my tail between my legs and skulk off never to try this again. But it was not. It would be easy to complain, although, in a fashion I am, but I am going to expose the realities I faced. Realities that, while I had a sense of what I was up against, it was not until I took active part that I came to realise the many artificial roadblocks that kept me from properly giving myself the exposure that the electorate deserve.

It has become obvious to most that over the last few years there is increasing censorship in the public domain against any view that does not promote socialism. This trend I have observed from the sidelines for close to a quarter century. The event that brought this trend first to my attention was the enactment of Bill C-68, an act that required the licensing of gun owners and the registration of their firearms. Sure, I had a vested interest as I had been an avid hunter since a teenager. But when I looked at the reasons for this legislation, I could find no rational reasons that held any water. It was not as if hunters had suddenly become dangers to society.

It was, to me, the pivotal moment of “virtue signalling”; an attempt by politicians to appear they were doing something worthwhile yet under closer scrutiny there was no supporting evidence. Such signalling cannot take place without the support of the press. This was the moment I noticed that our media collectively had taken on a new role. Rather than questioning those in power, required by a true democracy, they had decided to take a side. One that was idealistic rather than rational. One that began the ever-increasing infringements of personal freedom.

This trend has been escalating to the point that we are now on the verge of dictatorship all because the media have become propagandists rather than holding those elected accountable. They have become the purveyors of “misinformation”, lies and outright censorship rather than the pursuers of truth like they used to be.

I knew this would be a major challenge when I decided to put my name forward to represent the People’s Party of Canada in the recent federal election. As a result, I had formulated a plan to try and circumvent that censorship by avoiding as much as possible the established media. This I naively thought could be easily done by bypassing the media and dealing directly with the voting public. Why was I naive? Because I did not take into consideration the challenges that I would have to face.

One challenge was just sharing with people who I am and what I was all about. In recent years one tool that became available was Facebook. But no longer. They tightly control sharing of information, especially if not of a political leaning they support, and that includes the People’s Party. For example, during the campaign I tried to let people know in out lying communities I would be in town by “boosting” a post announcing when and where I would be. Facebook denied that option saying it was “political”. And then would make sure my Facebook page was bombarded by paid advertisements for the other parties.

Another opportunity that was denied was being invited to either of the “all candidates” debates scheduled by the Chamber of Commerce and the local television broadcaster. See the picture at the top of this post. Out of the 5 candidates running only 3 were present. The two missing are myself and the Conservative candidate who declined her invitation. Why was I not there? Because on a national level the party I had chosen to represent, had too low a popularity based on biased “opinion” polling and thus the organizers felt it was inappropriate to invite me. To "an all candidates" debate. One where no one in the riding was polled to determine who should be invited. To this day I still cannot rationalise this as what has that got to do with who the local candidates are? If I had been an "independent" with no relationship to a National party would I still have been excluded? But I was not surprised.

My real problem was that the focus of my campaign was trying to get hard copy material into the hands of as many electors as possible. First, I did not appreciate the costs involved and the severe disadvantage I had in not having access to funds through fund raising. Without question the Canada Elections Act does not do any favours for newbies like me. I was up against multiple 500-pound gorillas who just, through the financial resources available to them, I just could not compete against. This compounded the fact that I had to rely on a bare bones approach which, In the end, failed to deliver. I doubt many even looked at my material.

In the end, I am very confident that when ever I had the chance to talk to people, they felt I was a credible candidate with the right qualifications, including strong morals and ethics. I just did not have the exposure I needed, much of that due to the traditional media. A “fair” fight it most certainly was not. I am not bitter, but I am disappointed coloured by sadness. We as Canadians have traditionally prided ourselves on being a truly egalitarian society to the point that we commonly mock our neighbours to the south who brag about “freedom”, “justice” and “free speech” when they have none of that. Now I know firsthand that neither do we.

Why I became a Candidate

 

I have been asked a few times “why did you decide to run as a candidate” in the just past Federal election. In short, for two reasons: I wanted to provide the constituents in the riding I was running to represent a real, qualified option, and the other is that when unhappy with a situation one has a moral and ethical duty to “put up or shut up”.

At its very core the electoral system in Canada is one where you vote for a person to represent you in parliament. As such the choice should be to select from the available choices the person who is best for the job. By “best” I mean someone with the appropriate skill set that they can properly evaluate the many, at times complex issues, that a parliamentarian will have to address. And one who shares morals and ethics that resonate with your own. Or at least theoretically that is how it is supposed to work.

The reality is that it instead is a “popularity” contest where qualifications seem to have little to do with the process. Far too often there is a strong disconnect in that the “candidate” far too often is a cardboard cut-out who is an avatar for a political party, specifically the personality who is the “leader” of that party. So, many of us do not vote for a representative but instead for a place holder for a person who has no vested interest in your well being.

I have a problem in that I hold my principles dearly. Too dearly in comparison to many others. I firmly believe that the person should be the primary point of evaluation when choosing who to vote for. And that the party they represent should come second. Every party has a basic platform which summarises the morals, ethics and principles that the party says they wish to promote and defend. That platform is meaningless if the representative is unable to advocate the regional wants and needs of their riding. It is for that reason that the person needs to be the primary concern.

It may appear that I have let my ego lead, but I assure you that is not the case. I do not search for the limelight and typically am most at home in the background, helping others. Because I have strong principles, if I believe something is worth supporting, I will step forward when no one else is willing to do so. My first “leadership” role was back in university where I was President of the Geology Club. Why? Because I believed in the purpose of having the club and no one else was willing to lead. So, I stepped forward. And that I have done numerous times since, whether it was being a minor hockey coach, President of the local curling club or President of a local service club. It was never about me but the belief that it was a worthy cause, and someone had to do it.

Yes, I went to university. But I have never felt that put me above others in that it made me “more educated”. The reason I went to university was an offshoot of a passion of mine growing up; I loved tramping through the bush and just surrounding myself with the natural world. When evaluating potential job opportunities at the time, being a geologist came to the forefront. And to become a geologist one had to go to university, in effect the appropriate “trade school”. It is for that reason I respect anyone who went on after high school to any form of advanced learning. We all share the same desire in that we needed to get specialised training for the trade we wished to make a career from. It doesn’t matter if that was a college, an apprenticeship program or a university. Different paths for the same basic purpose; acquiring the skills and knowledge required to do your chosen profession well.

Even so, it has opened for me opportunities and additional training that has broadened my resume and in doing so has made me quite qualified to be a representative in Parliament. While not a great public speaker I am not afraid to stand up before others and speak publicly. Being in a career that requires a lot of troubleshooting ability I am not afraid to come up with ideas that may work. Yet not offended when someone else comes up with something better. A key to be a successful geologist is being a good observer and fitting the pieces together to try and solve a puzzle. Or observing how others do a task so that, in a pinch, you can complete a similar task if needed to get the job done. To be flexible. To be willing and able to cooperate with others yet still true to oneself and to the available facts. To push back by asking questions, to ensure that the correct path is taken.

Watching what has happened these past two years have opened my eyes in that we as Canadians have created a situation we should never have put ourselves in. All because we elected people who have no qualifications to evaluate the complexities that have bubbled to the surface. We have, due to making poor political choices, had past governments who have contributed to our current problems by appointing unelected ideologues in too many key bureaucratic positions based on their politics rather than their actual abilities. How else can we explain having people with medical training who had to take an oath to “do no harm” yet come out with “recommendations” that do not follow that ethical requirement. In fact, they do not even respect our existing laws, especially our Charter of Rights and Freedoms. And where have been our “elected” representatives who are supposed to be the ones who direct the bureaucracy? No where to be found, or if they do say something, it is to show their abject ignorance of the subject at hand. To say, “we are following the science”, which is nonsense because science is a process and not a result. A process of asking questions. Of pushing back.

I am a scientist. I am a person who does know how to ask questions and do so all the time. Not because I know I am right or think I am, but because that is what science is all about. In addition, I have been an advocate for others. I am willing, and able, to stand up and say something. I may not be the most eloquent speaker, but I do know that I can see where things are leading typically before many others do. Yet no one else has made themselves available that has the skill set I have to offer. Thus, I put my name forward as a candidate.

In the end, I lost. I came in a distant fourth. It was not because I was an inferior candidate. But that is a different story that I will write about in the future.

Why I Chose to Join the People’s Party of Canada

 This year has been a critical one for me. All my research into SARS-CoV2 has shown that it is comparable to the flu in infectiousness and deadliness.  If I don't fear one why should I fear the other? Yet the world around me has been going insane. Rather than just complaining, like writing blog posts, I decided to try and do something about it. So begins a series of essays that explore my jump into "politics". Even family members have told me "you are not a politician"! True, in that I purposely will not lie to get a vote just so I can have a cushy job. But that is at the core of our current problems; too many people elected to represent us, the people, who fail miserably. In fact they help make it worse!

 

I first started voting when I reached the age of “majority”, eighteen. And I have voted every opportunity since although there have been many times I seriously considered not as none of the available choices were palatable. In the end I still voted but decided to vote for the lesser of the available evils of the day.

For many years I never aligned myself with a political party, especially by taking out a membership. I was truly an “independent” voting for the person or platform that appealed to me most. An example was voting for Jack Stokes who, at the time, represented the New Democratic Party in Ontario. A person who did his best to represent his constituents no matter their political leanings. To this day he is still my role model of what an elected representative should be.

In the 1980’s I started to take more of an interest in politics, but it wasn’t until the mid 1990’s I finally took out a membership in a political party and that was solely to prove to myself my commitment. The party? The Reform Party of Canada as I agreed with the basic premise that our senate needed to be reformed.

When I was in High School one course I took was Canadian Law and one topic covered was the Canadian Senate and why it was created; to provide a means of tempering the “tyranny of the majority” as experienced by the least populated areas, such as Northwestern Ontario and Western Canada in general. It was obvious to me, as I took the time to look at the details, that the Canadian Senate, as it had evolved into, was not working. The only party trying to fix that inequity was the Reform Party.

Over time, while its platform resonated in western Canada, it could not gain traction east of Manitoba. This resulted in it merging with the Progressive Conservative Party and thus creating the Conservative Party of Canada. Yet I never felt comfortable with this new party, primarily because of it being wishy washy on certain issues, such as supply management and global warming/climate change. The later, as it involves earth forming processes, something as a Geologist I know a bit about, I have been looking at closely now for over 2 decades. To this day I have yet to find any truth but a lot of fiction. And the one party to swallow that fiction hook, line and sinker was the Liberal Party of Canada with the New Democrats being a close second. As a scientist at my very core is the search for truth and as such I just cannot, and will not, support fiction. Especially when it is used to make our lives worse after all the advances we have made during my lifetime.

Prime Minister Harper I personally liked but whenever I was thinking the Conservative party was aligned with my morals and ethics he would say or do something that made me back off. As you may have figured by the previous paragraph, his tacet acceptance that we humans can control the climate was the main sticking point. Then came the election in 2015 at which he lost. After wasting the opportunity to start to set things right the previous four years with a majority. After 9 years as Prime Minister he decided it was time to move on and so resigned as leader of the Conservative party.

I paid attention to the resulting leadership race although I never took part by taking out a membership in the party. I was back to being an independent. A person tied only to a platform or candidate that appealed to me rather than committed to a party. Yet the platform that Maxime Bernier presented made a lot of sense. I hoped he would win. But then he lost by a slim margin due to backroom shenanigans. The same type of corruption that has permeated all the other major parties where they are now led by a back-room bunch who use the leader of the party as a puppet to bring about negative change that reflects idealistic, yet morally and ethically corrupt policies.

Maxime tried to be a good loser but came to the realisation that the party was too corrupt and so he quit. Rather than fading into the background he realised there was a need for a party that was honest with a sensible platform that put the common person first. One not corrupted by special interest groups. Thus, he formed the People’s Party of Canada. That basic theme appealed to me and so I donated to the party, the first time I had ever done that. As the party developed the more I liked it!

To me, what is not to like where the focus is on real issues! My core philosophy has always been “fiscally responsible with a social conscience”. And every item on the evolving platform meshed with that core philosophy. For the first time in my life there is a party where I feel comfortable as the fit is so good! Truth is valued. Respect for others is valued. Fiscal and personal responsibility is valued. Fairness is valued. And most importantly, Freedom is valued!

Another appealing aspect is Maxime himself. He has proven he is a man of principle and so am I. He has never wavered from his core principles. He does not bend a knee to idealogues, nor does he waver by virtue signalling to fool people into believing he is something he is not. He is the real deal. A person who is dedicating his life to his country. The living epitome of JFK’s famous statement, “ask not what your country can do for you — ask what you can do for your country”. And to paraphrase Martin Luther King from his “I have a Dream” speech in that he and I both have a dream that Canadians will not be judged by the colour of their skin but by the content of their character.

At this point in history Canada, and Canadians, have available to them a party that puts them first. Not the elite who mock us at every opportunity. Like attending conferences on our dime yet ignoring the same rules they are trying to impose on us. Not wearing masks. Not caring how much “carbon” they spew. Showing that their policies are lies by their actions. A party that does not virtue signal. A party that values our laws, especially our Charter of Rights and Freedoms. And just plain is the living epitome of “peace, order and good government” that has been a long-time national motto that is on the verge of being thrown onto the dust bin though it has done us well since 1867, the year our country was born.