ELECTION

So I faxed off my registration papers for overseas voters to yesterday to Elections Canada, leaving the 'when do you plan on returning to Canada?' a vague "year 2008/monthXX" Actually, I'd prefer if they had an essay question on that one, in which case my answer would probably be something like this:

"I plan on returning to Canada when the government decides it's wrong to steal more than, say, 15% of a persons' income through taxation; when I could be assured of affordable, PROMPT and TOP-QUALITY healthcare without having to leave the country; when the state rescinds the laws that prohibit me from accessing whatever media I wish to consume because of its country of origin; when the country has a government that can be held legally accountable for waste and theft, etc, etc, ... and possibly when the weather gets a bit warmer ( that means I want a government that would scrap that horrid Kyoto thing). Or maybe I'd come back if I had a solid job offer that would offset the country's high taxes, horrid weather, and generally illiberal mindset."

If I did that, of course, the Chretinite Liberal-stooge that no doubt inhabits the part of the government bureaucracy that receives faxes would assume I was a Conservative. Then, he or she would naturally 'lose' my papers.

The stooge would probably be making a correct assumption. I pretty much intend on voting for the Conservatives this time. Getting the Liberals ousted is a priority

I could change my mind if the following conditions exist: (A) St John's East Conservative candidate is a total douchebag; (B) the NDP fields an ex-Codco member or at least someone mildly funny (i.e. not a trade-unionist or full-time activist) and (C) polling data puts the Conservatives in third place for the riding and the NDP at either second or first.

This is entirely possible - Jack Harris once held a federal seat there and there are a lot of Conservatives who would qualify as douchbags. But the general incompetence and corruption of 'Canada's natural party of governance' make the chances of a Liberal vote on my part absolutely impossible.

I wouldn't consider myself a Tory (which still seems too English and stuffy) nor a Conservative (which seems too American and Bible-beltish). I'm still - despite my favouring of hawkish US foreign policy - more or less a libertarian.

Sadly, the Libertarian Party of Canada at present seems like too much of a joke to even consider throwing a protest vote toward. Their website proudly displays the only item of news ever carried about the party: its leader was a political prisoner who served time for refusing to wear a seat belt. Which is admirable in a weird way - but still more weird than admirable.