The Simple Raven's Post: Peter MacKay, a new but old name in the news.

Peter MacKay, a new but old name in the news.

When I was a kid when news broke out the “paper boys” used to shout in the streets, “breaking news, read all about it.” People used to line up to buy papers. Now the news is dispensed much differently but not necessarily faster. When I heard that Peter McKay became the first candidate for the leadership of the Conservative Party I called a friend in Calgary. He didn’t know. He had to look at Facebook on his phone. I miss the days when people were interested in who is leading the country. I miss the old newspapers and the Newspaper Boys as well.

When I was young, Conservative meant something else as well. They were the people who advocated most good things insisting that we must do it right. To them, the government was responsible to make sure that society moves forward to better Social progress, planning the move properly and executing it according to plan. Their plans usually were a bit slow but well thought of and considerate of all the people. At some point, at the end of the seventies, a new style of Conservatives appeared. We didn’t even realize that something has changed.

It was the Ronald Reagan era and the whole idea of elections changed. Potential leaders used to promise us a better life and the news reporters played a big role insuring that they did. They would ask the questions, report the answers and tell us who won at the end. In 1976 the US Supreme Court declared that unlimited amounts of money could be spent on elections and history took a turn. Corporate money could practically buy elections and the news media became enslaved to expansive marketing campaigns. A new ideology entered the political arena in a big way. As the old true journalists died, the new generation were not journalists in the old sense but paid marketing agents. Media chains could and did determine elections and democracy lost its historical mission.

The old political parties, now obligated to cater to corporate money, changed also and began to lie openly at elections. After all, it was government regulations that kept them in line and now the government was a choice of Big Money, not the electorate. Now Canada ended up with a Conservative party that is too far-right for most voters, facing a Liberal party that is moderately right but able to appeal to left-leaning citizens. Of course, the star power of the leaders also plays a role.

I am looking at the possible political scenario of the next elections wondering, what is best for the whole country. We know from recent experience that the West could be united for the Right but not have the political clout to form a government. The West needs to sell oil and invest the profits in new forms of energy and so far it's been blocked or unable to do so. It must do so without hurting the social programs and regulations dear to most Canadians. At the same time, it must compete with the greater economy to the South but that one may change soon. The world is concerned with Global Warming and no amount of expansive marketing of oil will change it. The Liberals are responding much better than the Conservatives, indicating that the far-right believers must moderate or lose, and they do.

Who is most equipped to be a real competitor to the still popular Justin Trudeau and has an undamaged reputation combined with some good salable ideas? We can’t forget that we need people who care about the world’s climate, a plan that will provide the most needed jobs, and star power. In my crystal ball, I see only two faces with some faint shadows behind them. They are Rona Ambrose and Peter MacKay.

Rona Ambrose is an accomplished western leader and I would love to see her face off with Chrystia Freeland in an election. If she led the Conservatives and Christia the Liberals, we would do well either way. For this time I would like to see Peter MacKay face Justin Trudeau. Both want to see a pipeline taking Alberta oil to market, but Peter has the better plan. He wants to refine our oil in the east and sell the finished product to some of the most environmentally conscientious markets. He also talks about using the oil for a transition period which will allow us to develop alternative solutions to the energy problem, I am convinced.

Presently my biggest political problem is with the deceiving culture that has grown in our political system, where potential leaders don’t hesitate to lie. They trust that big money will insure their reelection even if they get elected promising what is impossible to achieve. We call it the far right. Peter MacKay is the son of a true old-world Conservative who still had honour and pride. This is why he was leading the Progressive Conservatives while Harper championed the Alliance.

My kids’ generation and their kids say there is no point voting or getting involved in politics. “They are all liars,” I remember, fondly, other times. Politicians led with integrity and the journalists kept them in line. I want to see it come back. I will never give up as long as I am alive.