Peacenik is wondering about how to vote in the current Canadian general election. Needless to say, the candidates' and parties' position on Canada's role in Afghanistan is the central issue for Peacenik's decision-making process. To date, in the phony election campaign just witnessed in Guelph, there was virtually no mention of the war. There was one question and a bunch of vague answers in the televised debate. Peacenik doesn't know for certain what Green Party rep. Mike Nagy or the NDP's Tom King thinks about the war. He doesn't care what Conservative candidate Gloria Kovak thinks because he already knows that she will merely echo Prime Minister Harper's war until 2011 (unless the US tells us to stay forever) policy.
So Peacenik did a little research. First stop was Green Party candidate Mike Nagy's blog. Under a link to "other important issues" there is a meaningless phrase "rebalance our role in Afghanistan". What does that mean, rebalance? Does he want a surge, a repositioning, a withdrawal, a change of mission? Who knows?
Next, Peacenik checked out NDP candidate Tom King's blog. Under a link to "Issues," there is a list of ten issues but no mention of the war. Somewhere on the Tom King website, Peacenik found a more than year old anti-taser letter to the editor, "Weapons Make Us Arrogant." There was a mention of anti-Vietnam war protest in the letter, but no mention of Afghanistan. A statement about Tom King's position on the war may be on his website, but it is not prominent. Peacenik couldn't find it.
At Frank Valeriote's website, under a link to "Fast Facts About Frank," there is no mention of the war.
So we have the three leading progressive candidates in Guelph who make no mention of the war on their personal blogs or websites. Peacenik was intrigued and decided to expand his research. A visit to the NDP party website found no mention of the war on the front page. In a list of statements there was a statement about the death of two Canadian aid workers. A letter to oppose the deportation of two war resisters also was buried under a link. And there were multiple statments on the deaths of Canadian Soldiers in Afghanistan.
Finally, under a link to speeches, there was a speech to the University of Ottawa in which Jack Layton says, "its time for Canada to withdraw from the combat mission and lead the process for peace and stability." Sort of namby pamby but leaning in the right direction.
To be fair, Peacenik also checked out the Conservative Party of Canada's website. Under a list of ten key issues, the war is not mentioned. There are no obvious pictures of the war in Afghanistan.
A quick stop at the Liberal Party of Canada's website also failed to find any obvious mention of the war.
What does this mean? We are a country at war while engaged in a federal election. Where is the anti-war movement that at least had a pulse in Guelph prior to the Iraq war? Why are our politicians ignoring one of the major issues of the day? Why does the media let them?
Peacenik knows what he wants to hear. "Bring the troops home now." And Peacenik is still wondering how to vote.
