Hmmm, are you ready for a fresh, new face in Canadian politics?
It is official now. We will be going to the polls here in Canada on October 21st to decide who will be representing us for the next four years. Election signs are popping up on front lawns. The rhetoric from the party leaders is already into overdrive.
Once again I find myself struggling to decide who I dislike the least so I can cast my ballot. Alas, it seems I dislike all the options equally. There seems to be no choice for me but to form my own party, declare myself its leader and enter the race.
I will be representing the all-new and long overdue Metaphor Party.
You will want to know where the Metaphor Party falls on the political spectrum. Does it lean to the left or the right? This will be dictated by the direction that the wind blows. When the wind blows from the east, we will lean to the left. When it blows from the west, we will lean to the right. If it blows from the north of the south, those will be wild card days.
Flexibility will be the hallmark of our economic policy. We are in favour of paying down the deficit and lowering taxes. We are opposed to cost cutting and to cost increases. The purse strings need to be tied tightly, but loose enough for easy access.
It is our belief that financial management is all about the pluses and the minuses and how you play one against the other. Don’t worry if that seems counterintuitive. It is simply a matter of moving the money around strategically and never leaving it in one place for too long.
Our foreign policy is unequivocally foreign, but carefully balanced from a domestic perspective. We believe Canada must be a player in all foreign affairs, skillfully playing both ends against the middle without getting caught in the crossfire or firing across anyone’s bow.
Environmental issues are close to our heart without being top of mind. We will judiciously fund environmental programs, when the occasion calls for it, on a cost-sharing basis to be negotiated when appropriate with impartial organizations to be named at a later date.
We believe that governments must keep their hands off private sector affairs and let the chips fall where they may – unless the chips fall in a way or in a place that is not in the public interest, in which case we will unilaterally intervene in a fair and arbitrary fashion.
Transparency is a fundamental principle of our approach to government. All our decisions will be made in full public view. Specific details of these decisions, of course, will from time to time need to remain confidential including any conflicts of interest that may or may not occur.
If we make a mistake, we will own up to it as soon as we identify a suitable scapegoat.
In the final analysis, we believe that governing a great nation like Canada is about walking a fine line without falling off the tightrope. Not falling off the tightrope means never stretching it too tight in the first place. What better party to do that than the Metaphor Party?
~ Now Available Online from Amazon, Chapters Indigo or Barnes & Noble: Hunting Muskie, Rites of Passage – Stories by Michael Robert Dyet
~ Michael Robert Dyet is also the author of Until the Deep Water Stills – An Internet-enhanced Novel which was a double winner in the Reader Views Literary Awards 2009. Visit Michael’s website at www.mdyetmetaphor.com .
~ Subscribe to Michael’s Metaphors of Life Journal aka That Make Me Go Hmmm at its’ internet home www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog2. Instructions for subscribing are provided in the Subscribe to this Blog: How To instructions page in the right sidebar. If you’re reading this post on another social networking site, come back regularly to my page for postings once a week.
Tags: federal election · metaphor · Michael Robert DyetNo Comments