An Iqaluit voter ponders the electoral options

My feelings and potential voting tendencies have swung wildly during the first half of the 2016 federal election.

Most recently, I was leaning towards voting for the New Democratic Party, an unusual thought for me, a fiscal conservative.

Having had the opportunity to watch the leaders’ interviews on CBC, some of my views have crystallized on the current campaign. I still don’t have a problem with the economic platforms of any of the parties, but I would like to see more specifics.

Justin Trudeau is going to stimulate the economy. How? Which sectors?

Stephen Harper will continue down the same path. Not necessarily wrong, but not exactly inspirational. Plus, we need more than just an oil focus.

Elizabeth May wants us off oil by 2050 — an unlikely, lofty goal that would be worthy in the attempt if not the result.

And Tom Mulcair will stimulate job growth among small business. Again, how?

Of course right now, the news is about Syria and its refugees. While the situation is just getting on Canadians’ radar, Europe has been dealing with this and the African exodus for a year now.

It’s the African exodus that most Canadians are still under-aware of as refugees are desperate to leave countries lacking any real leadership. Tens of thousands are attempting, and hundreds are dying during the attempt of, a treacherous crossing of the Mediterranean Sea to get to Italy and Spain, economically weak states themselves.

Indeed, following the European news last year, their focus was on the African exodus more than the growing humanitarian crisis in Syria until recently.

And it’s this crisis that causes me to re-think again how I will vote.The Harper government is being shamed into greater action for the refugees. As they should. It’s shameful to leave these people to die when we can do so much more.

They will however continue to bomb ISIS. A prudent move in my opinion.

Why? It’s the right thing to do because we have promised to help protect the Iraqis and the Kurds. How do we walk away and maintain any credibility or humanity?

I hear pundits talk about how we are not winning the war. We’re not supposed to win the war. We are supposed to give some breathing room for the Kurds and the Iraqis while they fight the war.

That is why we are bombing ISIS and why we must continue. Also, we need to continue pressure on the Gulf States to join in. It is their region!

Memories of the Kurds being strafed by helicopter gun-ships after the First Gulf War because we abandoned them are still fresh in my mind.

Will we abandon them again? Really? The opposition has argued that Canada’s standing in foreign policy circles has been diminished by Harper’s climate change policies. How will leaving these people to the slaughter help?

Mulcair has said he is “profoundly” okay with the idea that he will immediately withdraw our troops, even the training personnel! Shame!

My intentions have done a 180. I am now a founding member of the “Anybody but the NDP” camp. At least Trudeau and May would leave trainers there. I hope that they will see this is woefully inadequate but it’s something.

I beg all leaders to consider their positions on Syria, Iraq and ISIS from the point of view of what we can do for the people there. We should be helping those staying in harm’s way to fight the medieval threat of ISIS as well as those who are trying to escape this horrible situation.

Michael Stork
Iqaluit

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