I do not know how many Toms, Dicks, and Harrys in Canada are talking about the divided country, but the news broadcasters allow pundits and simple news readers to jump in and give the impression that something strange is happening because diverse opinions and violently opposed residents can be shown in audio and video clips.  It makes one think that all the talk about friendly debate is just malicious window dressing.   We are certain to hear more than a few experts claim to have predicted the unhinged passion that ends in bloody confrontations and civil war.  If when we say we agree to disagree it is a matter of high principle then are not divided legislatures a good thing to be treasured?  We keep plodding along with division as normal but we disrespect Canadians who deliver a minority government.  The thing that makes democracy worthwhile and sacred is not the name of the winner or the loser.  It is the privacy of the ballot.

Who a person chooses to vote for is a private matter for a noble reason.

Abhorrent political interference with my vote

During the last election in Ontario the corporation behind the Ford campaign sent me an SMS asking me if the PC party could count on my vote. I chose not to dignify that intrusion with a reply.

The win by Ford was the outcome of an appeal to people’s emotions with traditional empty slogans. The current (July 2022) outbreak of covid19 variants, the gouging of consumers by oil and gas companies, the continuing shortage of firstrate health-care, are evidence of the government surrendering people’s health to business interests. We are not that blind. People have thrived in Ontario before there were truckers, large corporations and anarchists.

Politics is not warfare and governments represent all the people

The price we will pay by supporting big and small business over people, single or families, will be a slave economy which will fail the test like ancient Israel did. The perennially tempestuous relationship between government and labour is part of the DNA that has made Canada the latest confirmed genocidal beast.

Who gets my vote is a private matter

I say ban public displays of political persuasion. Debates should only identify the candidates. The audience should be polled anonymously. Division, as we can see from the American quagmire, is neither funny, inspiring, nor helpful for a nation that wants to keep bloodshed and deceit out of the public and private life.