You’re voting for Harper? Huh, okay. So. Whyyyyyyy?
ELECTION FEATURE by Erik Woodley
At last, this exhausting federal election is coming to an end. During the last three months and change, we’ve printed our fair share of material blasting Stephen Harper and his Con cronies and we’ve been proud to do so, because their record shows they are turds who need to be excreted from office. But despite that record (or maybe because of it, as sad as that sounds?), a bunch of people are still going to vote for the Cons. So the question becomes, why?
To find out, we approached a handful of CPC supporters identified them by the signs on their front lawns and inquired, simply, why do the Conservatives have your support?
It took a few slammed doors, and even more refusals due to privacy concerns (how ironic!), but in the end, we found a handful of Con-sters brave enough to shed some light on why they’re voting to the right.
TIM: AGE 50
“Well, I support less government involvement, for sure. I do believe that taxing the wealthy in order to put money back into our infrastructure is… noble. Yeah, we need programs like that to support our infrastructure. But taxing shouldn’t be the government’s first response to every single issue. Especially with where our economy is right now, the NDP and Liberal’s agenda to hike taxes just doesn’t make sense.
KENT: AGE 62
“Why do I vote for Harper and not a socialist lefty? Lots of reasons. I live in reality. Their social causes are great, but at the end of the day, raising taxes won’t do anything but sink our economy. The NDP are weak on crime. I like longer sentences for dangerous criminals — that’s a no-brainer for me. Shutting down the oil sands won’t help. Losing more off my paycheque to support immigrants won’t help. I work hard for the money I make. Harper understands we don’t want to pay more taxes, so I’ll vote against more taxes and more debt.”
LAUREN: AGE 27
We just have the sign, don’t expect me to justify it! If I can be honest, yes, I support the Conservatives. I think Harper is by far the best option. But, am I happy with how he’s done as prime minister? Not entirely. I don’t like bill C-51 or his stance on the environment. So yeah, if we had a party that was more in the centre, I would probably be giving them my vote. But at this point, the Conservatives are really my only option. The left seems broken to me; they can’t unify behind a single leader. They seem to be on every side of all the issues. Like, Trudeau: I think his values and policies are just always changing. So, Harper is the lesser of three evils.
PAUL: AGE 30
[Harper is] protecting Canada and making sure we hold on to our Canadian values. I respect that. With the NDP and the Liberals, what we think of as “Canadian” would just vanish. Harper is smart with immigration. I think he sets a cultural standard that people should have to meet if they want to live here — I believe that. The bleeding hearts to the left think it’s some horrible crime to comment on anyone’s cultural practices. We have Canadian values too, and Harper is going to maintain them. And no, that’s not racist.
ANONYMOUS: AGE “IN MY 40s”
Why? Look at me, I’m not rich. Lower taxes are good for someone like me. I don’t want them raised. Harper isn’t going to spend all my money. I just don’t like the socialist politics, deciding where the money will go. When taxes go up, cost of living goes up. I know what Harper is like when he runs a country — we’ve seen it for the last nine years. And I’m okay with things going the way they have been.
KATHY: AGE 56
Well, thanks for asking. I wish I had a bit more time to come up with a better answer. But in a nutshell, well, I guess I agree with the Conservatives’ aim to keep taxes low. It makes the most sense now. I think what the NDP have done in other provinces doesn’t make me all that confident in them, to be honest.
What else… Well, I like how strong Harper is with foreign conflict. He’s stronger than the other leaders. He actually took a stand against ISIS; I’m glad he actually has a spine when it comes to stuff like that. I know he gets flak for what’s going on right now in Syria and immigration, which is fair. But his priorities seem to be to keep the country safe. I can’t fault him for that. I know it sounds silly, but I really see the Conservatives as the only “safe” vote, if that makes sense.
DAN: AGE 58
Yeah, I’m proud to show my support. What do you want to know? I’m voting for the party that’s going to win. I’m not even worried about the NDP — they’re plummeting. Look what’s happening in Alberta right now: They’re killing what used to be a booming province. Harper is going to do what the NDP and Liberals can’t: keep spending low and taxes low. They’re expanding trade and getting into new markets. Honestly, I’m not even worried. I’m looking forward to a majority government.
ELDERLY GENTLEMAN: DECLINED NAME/AGE QUESTIONS
“Who else should I vote for, the communists? Look what Harper is doing with free trade, the TPP. And who is going to stand up to the Muslims? Why am I voting for the only party who doesn’t have their head up their own asses? Good question.”
