Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Canadian youth can own this election

For the last five years, the Harper conservative party has spent millions of dollars attacking the leaders of the opposition parties, with vicious, exaggerated, and fabricated, personal attack ads.

Please allow me to repeat this.

With all the priorities over the last five years, that any government in the G7 should be concentrating on, the Harper conservative party has spent millions of dollars attacking the leaders of the opposition parties, with vicious, exaggerated, and fabricated, personal attack ads.

Millions of dollars, not collected from the twenty to one hundred dollar, heart felt, donations from the 5 million or so, true believers in conservative policies, but from corporations, oil companies, pipeline companies, banks, Canada’s fortune 100, many of whom are no more than foreign owned subsidies.

Corporations, each funneling up to $186,000 a year, through nonprofit, right wing think tanks. Funds to be used for advertising as per Election Canada Rules. Funneled through outfits like the National Citizens Coalition that Harper used to run with it’s large unpublished membership of neoconservative politicos and corporate owned executives.

These viscous and cowardly ads, started on Harper’s first day in power have been none stop, regardless of who the leader of the opposition was. Dion gets booted and the attack switches to Ignatieff.

Meanwhile, when the election starts, Canadians and the Canadian media go on about how they are the dreading the forthcoming political attack ads. Excuse me, there has not been one week during the last five years when Harper’s party has not been attacking the opposition leaders in prime time television ads.

However, it has been a two pronged media buy, with the government using corporately financed advertising to attack the opposition and our money, our tax dollars to positively promote themselves.

The CEAC (Canada’s Economic Action Plan) virtually ended close to a year ago, e.g. home renovation credits ended, the deadline passed for new infrastructure projects. Yet the Harper government spent more money in the last quarter of 2010, (just prior to being booted in contempt of parliament), recycling the Canada’s Economic Action Plan advertising, than Proctor & Gamble or any other private corporation has ever spent in a year in Canada.

This is one of least productive governments in Canadian history, yet by advertising a program that has been described as a pork barreling opportunity for conservative held ridings, a program that ended last July, the government is trying to convince Canadians that they are still working hard to get the economy back on track and convince us, using our own tax dollars.

Being a progressive blogger or probably more accurately of late, a progressive blogger follower, none of this is news. We collectively have been pounding the keyboards about this for the last five years.

Hell, I’ve given up on adding the media links to my posts, to somehow prove what I am saying has some truthiness. If you don’t believe it or don’t get it, you have not been paying attention. In reality if you are not part of the progressive bubble, we are screaming into everyday, you are not reading this post anyway.

However it is election time and Willy has been talking to none politicos, dinner parties and the like. The great unwashed, well off, old, white, men, who are disgusted at political attack ads and believe that they are a waste of time.

Yet they are unsure about Ignatieff, because somehow he seems to be in it for himself and the Harper government seems to be working hard on the recovery.

Canadian youth can own this election, because all the old farts I am talking to are stupid.

8 comments:

Simon said...

hi Willy...

Meanwhile, when the election starts, Canadians and the Canadian media go on about how they are the dreading the forthcoming political attack ads. Excuse me, there has not been one week during the last five years when Harper’s party has not been attacking the opposition leaders in prime time television

How true. Now they're wringing their hands because they're shocked. Shocked I tell you.

As for those old farts...I'm afraid to say there a few young ones too. We call them slackers, but I'm working on them. No votee, no beer, no using Simon's computer. ;)

What is truly frightening is how those Con attack ads have leached their way into the population.

I keep hearing people repeating them like parrots. The sad truth is the progressive side should have fired back sooner than they did. But the Cons had the big business bucks so we couldn't match them.

The Cons are trying to buy and steal themselves an election. But if you focus on the old farts, and I bribe the young ones, we can still stop them ... :)

Beijing York said...

Maybe I'm too much of a Pollyanna but I am finding these signs of youth engagement super hopeful. I sure hope it makes a difference.

Saskboy said...

If every Canadian journalist had a 10th of your insight into this, then Canada wouldn't be facing a CONTEMPTSERVATIVE majority right now.

Gordie Canuk said...

This is one 'old fart' who gets it, and I'm thrilled to see young people finally waking up. I know I'm getting old, but I'm not willing to let go of the torch just yet...but I am more than willing to share it.

WILLY said...

Simon,

If bribery doesn't work, try my new approach, blog about them the next day and then send them a link:)

WILLY said...

Hi Beij,

I think you are correct. The university poll raids thing is getting attention across the country. Maybe it was the Egyptians or this generation is just smarter than the last, but there is definitely more noise about the youth vote turning up and I hope they do.

WILLY said...

Hi SB

Wow your regard for the media is as low as mine.

However I believe the remaining journalists in this country know exactly what is going on. But unfortunately they are a dying breed, that is being replaced by mar/com copywriters controlled by corporate media warlords:)

Besides they have to prove what they write and that would take a little investigation which is no longer part of their mandate.

WILLY said...

Hi Gordie,

You don't look like an old fart in your profile picture. You must be one of those healthy old timers that I keep hearing about.

I on the other hand am not and I really need to stop posting after the third or fourth scotch because I end up with too many typos and titles for posts that either have nothing to do about what I am ranting about or as in this case mean exactly the opposite:)

Hell I even forgot that I posted last night until I got four emails this morning.

Bottom line and supposed intent of the post was that younger Canadians better show up because the complacent old ones that I have been talking to have no idea what's been going on.

Thanks for dropping by.