It's Tory time...

Well, it's finally happened. After 12 long years in power, Canada's Liberal government has been thrown out in a no-confidence vote. All three opposition parties banded together to topple the Liberals by 171 votes to 133, and parliament is expected to be dissolved today.

Coverage from CBC, CTV and the BBC here.

Candidates for replacing the Liberals include the left-leaning New Democratic Party (NDP), which I greatly admire apart from the fact they want to tax us all to death, the Bloc Québécois, which is only in parliament to promote the breakup of Canada as we know it, and, the most popular option, the Conservative Party. Amazingly, however... polls are saying that the Liberals are still likely to win the next election!

I have to say, as much as I dread the prospect of a Conservative prime minister, it would honestly be preferable in the long run for Canadian politics. The Liberals have been in power for so long and have painted themselves as the only reasonable option so well that voters have been reduced to voting them back in because they represent the lesser evil between the two main parties, and no one ever votes NDP. Also, Canada genuinely needs a more progressive taxation system, and that won't happen under the Liberal government. The big issue here, of course, is public services, especialy the overstretched Medicare system, which is under threat of collapsing entirely if major reforms are not made. It is this fear of being stripped of the public healthcare - which sets Canada apart from the United States in terms of social justice - that is likely to keep the Liberals in power for another term, and understandably so.

However, if they are re-elected for a record fifth term, an entire generation of Canadians (myself included) will have gone from childhood to adult employment without knowing any other kind of government. Now that can't possibly be right, or healthy. If the Conservatives came to power for a term, wouldn't it be just the shock to the system the Liberal Party needs to really examine its priorities and reshape itself as a party that people elect because they want to, not because they have to? The Liberals are in need of serious modernisation, and unfortunately it seems to be the case that the only way to achieve this is through a spell in opposition. It's time for a new Rat Pack to emerge.