Well it's been a pretty eventful couple of days.
The Election: The conservatives have won the Majority they were hoping for, and the NDP are now the official opposition. The Liberal party and the Bloc have been decimated, and Elizabeth May is now the first ever Green Party candidate to be elected in Canada.
- I'm very happy for the NDP as I think they will bring allot of good ideas and energy to the floor...however, with the Conservatives holding a majority the NDP have very little actual power and can only really hope that Stephen Harper will be open to their ideas and comments. He certainly doesn't have to listen to them anymore.
As for the Conservative majority; I think Canada is in for a big surprise with the direction politics are going to take. I am a Liberal at heart, but due to the corruption, poor leadership, and loss of focus, I have been voting Conservative for the past 10+ years in hopes that things would get better. This year I decided to vote for the NDP because I have seen far too many diabolically damaging decisions and ideas by Mr. Harper. I have a feeling that we as Canadians have just given license to someone that does not have the best interest of all Canadians at heart, but will pull our Country to the far right and completely alienate the West from the East. It will be an interesting 4 years that is for sure, and I do wish him the best. I would like to see him stick up for the Military and increase the budget for military pay, equipment, family support, and living allowances.
The Death of Osama: I have mixed emotions about this myself. I feel so much empathy for the families of 9/11, and those that have lost family members through terrorist activities. I also believe that Osama should be brought to justice and that his death will bring a great sense of relief and solace to many people may also be a catalyst for those opposed to the West to increase their activities and targeting the Western interests.
I don't believe for a second that killing him will make things better...sure it gives many a sense of satisfaction, but killing begets killing begets killing. I would really like to see dialogue begin with Al-Qaeda leadership if it's possible, I would like to see us helping to support infrastructure, schools, training for police/emergency workers, assistance for the impoverished, and medical support for the population. I think that the more we help, show our good natured side, and prove to the population at large that we are their to help and not just there to kill we would be doing ourselves more good than harm.
Military Future: Things are looking very bleak for the Canadian Military. We are hugely underfunded, we have outdated/antiquated equipment with very few spare parts, we have a pay structure that is barely allowing members to support their families, and we have a huge gap due to the number of members retiring or just releasing.
I think if something drastic doesn't change in the next few years, Canada will have no military left. Almost every single person I know has talked about getting out of the military or have considered trade changes, component transfers, or just going back to school. The military training system is not able to keep up with the times, their training methods are old and don't really work with todays population. Many of the instructors are jaded, overworked, underpaid, and sick and tired of being placed in impossible situations and they take out their frustrations on those that they are trying to train. Which causes a large percentage to want to get the hell out of there.
I think the system needs a huge overhaul, I believe that our budget must be increased and our equipment brought back into the 20th century. I think that Canadians must make a decision as to whether or not they want a Military, because at the rate things are going....the one we have will be too ineffective to operate at any level. This is happening right now, this isn't a future concern.
There is always hope though, and maybe Mr. Harper will now have the political muscle to get things done.
Rob
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