Politics in Canada

When I went to school, I learned from my teacher that this country had two national political parties, Liberal and Conservative. They were seen as alternatives, so that when the party in power became too corrupt or had too many scandals, people voted them out of office, allowing the other party to become the government.

Since then, the political landscape has changed. We now have three parties, each with their unique ideology. Each party develops policies and measures to take, in accord with their ideology. They are no longer alternatives. Instead, we must vote according to their ideology.

We now have the situation of three major national political parties. The Conservatives are conservative or libertarian. The Liberals believe in a mixed economy. The NDP are the socialist party. It’s more like parts of Europe than like the US.

Of course, some people are loyal to the party; they will continue to vote for it regardless of what it has done. Some people still believe in alternatives; they just have more of them now.

Have the political parties really changed? Maybe it’s I who have changed? We’ll see.