Canadians head to the Polls, May is a winner

On Sunday, September 7, 2008, Prime Minister Stephen Harper pulled the plug on his government, Canada's 39th Parliament. The Federal National Elections will be held on October 14, 2008, which is the day after the Thanksgiving holiday here in Canada. Personally, I am not too happy going to the polls again so soon. This will be the third election in four years, and who is paying for all this - well the Canadian taxpayers naturally.

So, a quick review about the happenings of the last couple of days. On Monday, Elizabeth May, leader of the Green Party of Canada was excluded by a TV Network broadcasting consortium, CBC, Radio-Canada, CTV, Global and TVA, and the other four candidates, all men - Stephen Harper, Jack Layton, Gilles Duceppe and Stephane Dion. Dion was the only party leader that actually wanted May present at the debates, but he also wanted to ensure that Harper was present for the debates.

Harper and Layton seems to be the main culprits. Harper was exhibiting his sexism and bigotry by stating that the decision was already made by the consortium and there was nothing he could do about it. Layton and Duceppe were also taking the position that May should not be present at the debates. Layton wants to be seen as the "green leader" since he has much to lose with May representing a similar agenda. Now he has to compete with her. May decided to take the matter to court.

This debacle caught the Canadian public attention and ignited the blogoshere with everyone throwing in their two cents.....Canadians were outraged.....since Canadians are known for and pride themselves on their fairness and equality. Hopefully, this will encourage everyone, especially women, to pay close attention to the upcoming elections and the issues that concerns them, their children and their families. Voters should ensure that their political candidates earn their votes.

As of this morning, Dion came out defending May's right to participate in the debates. He had a meeting this morning in Mississauga with some women candidates of his party. He comes out strongly by courting the womens' vote right away. I don't recall the Liberals doing this so early during the last election. Duceppe, Layton and Harper, respectively, have now fallen into line, and May will be participating at the upcoming debates. So now we will have all five political leaders at the debates in October.

The second brouhaha was about a Conservative party website that showed a puffin continually "pooping" on Dion's right shoulder.....yes, that is correct.....Let us not debate the issues, let us throw mud at each other...So the score is -: Harper is being juvenile and sexist, the underdog Dione has defended another underdog (May), so he gets $200 and passes Go, Layton is not the strong leader that he says he is (Jack, you should have known better) and Duceppe, well he just keeps on ticking...only in Quebec.

And the winner is Elizabeth May, leader of the Green Party. I think many Canadians were very unaware of May and the Green Party. By trying to exclude her from the debates, a move that was perceived by Canadians as being undemocratic, May has become a household name and the Green Party has emerged finally, in full bloom, on the Canadian national political landscape.

There are some things money just can't buy. This was priceless for the Greens.