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Politics, anyone?

Canadian federal politics is in "a terrible state of chassis". One of the characters in Sean O'Casey's "Juno and the Paycock" had the right expression for the current state of affairs. There is no other way to describe it.

Canadian Alliance members, at least some of them, have decided to join the Progressive Conservatives. Put another way, the Conservatives, at least some of them, have decided to join the Alliance.

Then, they say, the 138 year old party of John A. Macdonald will cease to be. It will merge with the 16 year old Reform/Alliance party of Preston Manning, Stockwell Day, and Stephen Harper.

What will emerge when the loose ends have been tied up is a new party, the Conservative Party of Canada. At this point who its leader will be nobody knows.

The arrival of a new political party in Canada is nothing new. As one dissolves another evolves. The Canadian Commonwealth Federation gave way to the New Democratic Party. The Social Credit Party, with two co-leaders, hived off the Creditiste Party. Both fell by the wayside, to be replaced by the Bloc Québécois. Then came the Reform Party which later became the Canadian Alliance. Now comes the Conservative Party, scheduled to replace both the Alliance and the Progressive Conservative Party.

Thoughout all the Liberal Party has formed the government for most of the past half century.

At one time it was almost impossible to discern major differences between the Liberals and the Conservatives. To varying degrees they were slightly left or slightly right of centre.

The only clear alternative was the NDP, the real party of the left.

With the advent of the Conservative debacle of 1993 when the party was reduced to two seats in the House of Commons, the Liberal Party quickly moved to straddle the centre, with one electoral success after another after another.

There was no room left in the middle, and Reform/Alliance came into being as a regional party well to the right of centre, doomed to spend its life in opposition. Hence came its decision to dissolve and create a new party in partnership with the dissolved Progressive Conservative Party, hoping to move closer to the centre, hoping to attract voter support, hoping to become government.

The only real party of the left is still the NDP.

The General Election to be held next year, 2004, will set a trend to right, left, or centre, that may determine the course of politics in Canada for at least a generation.

It is not too early to stress the importance of public participation in that election.

In the General Election of 2000 voter turnout was a mere 61%, down from 75% in 1984 and in 1988.

Eligible young voters were so turned off, tuned out, or didn't give a hoot, they stayed away from the polling booths in awesome numbers.

There is little time to persuade them to become interested in politics before the next General Election. But all parties, right, left, and centre, should make it a priority to reach out to them before it is too late. They have every right to know their votes are important, to themselves and to their country.

Show them how to become involved. And in 2004 let's all vote, the young, the elderly, and the in-betweens. The result could be surprising.

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