The issue:
Federal politics
WE SAY:
We may not want another election, but we need one.
It sounds like we're gluttons for punishment, but we need another election as soon as this one's over. The stink from the Gomery Inquiry in Ottawa is getting so bad, it's overpowering the scent of cherry blossoms here on the West Coast.
Allegations of corruption, cronyism and kickbacks involving the Liberal Party of Canada and Liberal-friendly advertising agencies are mounting daily - and despite an attempt to prolong his minority government with a budget deal with the NDP, it looks like Prime Minister Paul Martin's government life is now being measured in days.
Like all good scandals, the enormity of Liberal wrongdoing itself won't bring Martin down - it'll be the coverup of his own possible role in making sure certain firms got government contracts after posing as the squeaky-clean new sheriff in town. Having started the inquiry on a pledge to and clean up Ottawa, Martin has found himself dragged into the mire - and likely out of 24 Sussex Drive.
The polls might say that Canadians don't want another election right now, but then again, we think that feeling might be akin to taking strong cough medicine - it tastes awful, we don't want it, but we know we need it.
We strongly suspect that when one is called, as it might be this month, they'll be ready to pass judgement on the Liberals. Whether they'll be ready to hand the keys over to Stephen Harper is another question.
How this all might play out in Sea to Sky Country is also anyone's guess. Next week the Conservatives choose a replacement for the retiring John Reynolds, with three relative neophytes looking to fill the very big shoes (literally and figuratively) of a man who's dominated the political scene and been an effective constituency representative for this area for a total of nearly two decades.
Add to that the fact that Liberal Blair Wilson, who came within 2,000 votes of unseating Reynolds last year, has maintained a very high profile in the riding, appearing locally with cabinet ministers and even Prime Minister Paul Martin last month. With Reynolds's retirement, Wilson has earned himself the unique position of having a kind of incumbent's advantage despite being a defeated candidate, with much greater name recognition than any of his potential Tory opponents.
Of course, he, like every other Liberal candidate across Canada, has the ever-growing millstones of the Gomery inquiry hanging around his neck.
It looks like we're in for not only another election, but another nail-biter.
