Thursday night it came to me through the fog of national and global news; the deadline for voting registration for the Conservative Party of Canada leadership race was Friday night.
So I went to the CPC website, paid my $15 and signed up, a first for me. I have never joined a political party but for the price of a six-pack I can influence the choice of a new Conservative Party leader on Aug. 31, 2020. What made me do it?
I am afraid of what the future holds for the world, Canada and the North. Money makes the world go round. Communist, socialist, environmentalist, liberal, conservative, no matter what the ideology or political stripe, it all takes money. All democracies are built on cash. That money supply chain we all rely on has taken a historic hit. The ill effects are yet to come.
Right now, we are in shock from Covid-19 deaths beyond our Northern borders and the threat of spread among us. Treatment capacity and infection prevention is and will continue to be our top priority. The problem is we have to shut so many businesses down, put so many people out of work, we are in a self-induced coma.
The Liberal government has opened up the national vaults, a massive cash transfusion right into the country’s veins - small business and the working class. Early estimates put it at $250 billion.
Stephen Harper’ Conservative government did much the same on a smaller scale when the stock market drop hit the global economy in 2008. That was a tea party compared to Covid-19. There were no body bags on TV then.
But there is only so much blood in the bank and while we will survive, there are many more shocks in store. Air Canada laying off 22,000 workers is just the beginning. How far can Westjet be behind and many, many more?
A new class of educated, experienced, middle class unemployed is about to be born. Those eager beavers entering the workforce will be competing for jobs against that experienced middle class, including their parents, aunts and uncles. More families will be living together.
Governments that we rely on will lose their ability to help because they too will run low on money. Taxes will have to go up as services go down.
Do I expect the Conservative Party and its new leader to save us from Liberal spending? No, but considering the tsunamis in the distance, we will need the best and brightest of every party on deck. The stronger the party leaders not in government, the more they will hold the party in power accountable.
I don’t know anything about the people running to lead the Conservative Party - Leslyn Lewis, Peter MacKay, Erin O’Toole and Derek Sloan - but you can find them here. Frankly, only two of them interest me but we’ll see what happens as we get to know them better.
I will vote for whoever adds most to the national conversation. I welcome suggestions for who is best and why. Whether I vote for them as prime minister is an entirely different matter. Hard not to like the leader handing out the money. That all changes when the money runs out for helping regular folks, as it will.