I felt weird the first time I heard the Conservatives of Canada being called Cons. It was even weirder that it was a Conservative Party supporter that I heard it from. I’ve heard it again, also from a Conservative supporter so I guess this is going to be a thing. The above title should give you my take on this turn of events.
I do think the Conservatives are cons. Just to cite one example, they say that they are tough on crime. But the Tom Flanagan affair proves that this is not the case. Tom Flanagan counseled to commit murder on a CBC broadcast. No charges were ever brought forth on this serious matter, despite the much recorded and broadcast evidence. The Conservatives were in charge and fully aware of this crime. The Conservative Party of Canada is thus soft on crime.
So does this truth in advertising apply to all the Canadian parties? The official opposition is the New Democratic Party of Canada. If we take the first syllable and pluralize it, we get the News. Maybe it’s possible that this party has the journalistic integrity of the news. However they’re a bit more honest than the news – they’ll tell you up front that they are partisan. You have to figure that out about certain newspapers and news outlets across the country.
Then the Liberals would be the Libs. Perhaps that has something to do with the Women’s Lib movement. But the NDP and Greens fielded more women candidates in the last election than the Liberals. So we’re at a loss as to the meaning of Libs. Perhaps that is as it should be. After all the Liberals were so alien to most Canadians that they fielded a leader, Michael Ignatieff, who has spent many years living in the United States. And still, in this late day, Canadians are still suspicious of too much American influence in politics.
And last of the major parties, the one that seems to seal the truth in advertising thesis of this post, are the Greens. Green in English can mean new. And of the major parties the Greens are the newest. They are so new that in the last election they got their first elected member of parliament.
Will this truth in advertising thing in politics expand? Can you imagine a politician of any political stripe saying, “Most of what I do is waste time on each topic till the public helps me make up my mind or until my party leader tells me what to do.” Wouldn’t that be mind bending to hear from a politician? And of course it would also be true.
