Election call, heart attack itching to happen

Is there going to be a federal election?

I love elections, though the day after the last one, in January, 2006, I wound up flat on my back on a gurney at the Valley Regional. No, it didn’t have anything to do with the Harper victory.

This time, it appears there will be yet another victory for Prime Minister Stephen Harper, though maybe not the majority he want.

Harper is itching for an election – as much as the often dead-pan PM can appear to be itching.

No wonder. His party is more than holding its own – not 40 per cent yet, according to polls, but okay.

There is no one else.

Liberal leader Stephane Dion – whose leadership resulted from the Mistake in Montreal – is failing fast, with his party sure to follow.

Though Snappy Jack Layton of the NDP has gained some oomph after his big by-election victory in Outremont last month, he’s still haunted by old ideas and MPs that somehow aren’t with it. The latest involves one who has essentially caused an international incident by claiming Gen. Rick Hillier wrote a recent speech by Afghan President Hamid Karzai. Layton could, however, still gain big from the Liberal decline and the Green Party’s failure to really make a splash.

Bloc Quebecois leader Gilles Duceppe gives the impression of one who is ripe for a thumping. The cobbled nature of the BQ – leftists and old ultra conservative Creditistes and Union National supporters, who now appear to be headed off to support the NDP and the revived Tories, respectively – can’t help but show.

Harper is ready to outline his new policy intentions in this month’s Speech from the Throne, which the other leaders have vowed to defeat if it doesn’t cover their wish lists or otherwise offends their heightened sensitivities.

It’s going to be interesting to see how each one weasels out of the trap, if they actually want to.

The polls show people don’t want an election, and maybe they aren’t ready to give Harper a majority.

Something about polls, however, fails to denote the difference among what people may think at a specific time, what they say and what they will do. Look at the Tory victory in Roberval last month.

What more people are willing to admit is, Harper isn’t the bogeyman many had been led to believe. He grows on folks.

With the Afghanistan mission fast taking a new direction and our environmental options taking some momentum, the Tories aren’t as hobbled as many thought. Though manufacturing and forestry are taking hits, the economy is booming, with our dollar more than par to the Greenback. Manufacturers would be wise to renovate their factories as outside technology becomes cheaper. Anticipated tax cuts from the federal surplus could help that happen.

A big issue of the previous election – early childcare – doesn’t seem to be exciting anymore. Those really hepped up over it have finally realized it only affects their children for a six years; kids grow up fast, and they would be paying for someone else’s kids forever after. It’s better to nab Harper’s $100 a month per kid.

If this keeps up, I’ll be getting my healthcare cards ready.