The 2025 Canadian Federal Election
In which I consider all the craziness leading up to this election. Please, vote.
The time is upon us Canadians. Tomorrow, April 28th, 2025 is the day we vote and find out who will lead Canada for the next four years.
It’s been an interesting year thus far. Not counting the 2023 Toronto Mayoral election, we’ve had an Ontario provincial election on February 27, 2025, and will have one federally on Monday. This many elections in a short time seems to be unprecedented, and in some cosmic sense, a recognition of the weighty times we live. We have threats of takeover by the U.S., tariffs, and general unrest in the world. Russia is an aggressor, war in the Middle East, India and Pakistan on the brink. And yet, the kids still play. My memories as a kid were of hearing about potential global nuclear war, but we kids still played on, even then.
So, what weight even means to all this may be more subjective than we’re willing to admit. Maybe more than I’m willing to admit. I think of the heightened emotionality of this federal election and it may be true that this is just a different form of kids playing.
I flew close to the sun a couple times. I even attended a Pierre Poilievre rally. Yes, that’s my head poking out, three rows back:
My attendance at the rally was in no way planned, but I’m glad I went. No matter what political allegiance one has, something like this in person is transformative. It was the first such rally I’d been to, and quite something to see. It is true that many are angry in our country, and this was on full display (I may talk about the experience more, if you’re interested). Attending this event was in no way an effort to endorse Poilievre, even though it’s probably why everyone else was there.
As it happens, I’d managed to get to and spend a little time in Mark Carney’s riding. Sitting down with one if his constituents, it was telling while trying to get the general vibe of this part of our country. On my mind was if these folks going to vote for him, and would that mean something to the bigger picture election? It was hard to tell. Simultaneously, I’d learned that Poilievre’s riding in Ottawa had 78 registered candidates and would top out at 90. Wild. Could he lose his own seat because of all this?
This year I’ve been blessed to speak with many politicians in every level of government. I’ve attended campaign office openings, parties, events, video-calls and heard out these folks personally from each of the main federal parties (with the exception of the Bloq).
On a personal level, I’ve found Poilievre to be insouciant at best, but his back-story is something I would’ve liked to know better; he’s faced great struggles. Carney appears to have as well-qualified statesman-like presence. I took the time to read his well-thought-out book Value(s). Singh is a man who deserves better but is having difficult time breaking through the noise this time around. His book Love and Courage is also worth reading. The Greens are running two party leaders, on the surface a seemingly difficult task. These, of course are my personal observations alone. We assess these things over and above our view of the policies and catchy slogans. My interest is always to go beyond the preformative and try to understand the people.
And the costed policies and platforms came late. I’ve tried to pour over them to look for what’s good, what’s bad and what’s ugly. This, in my mind, should be the primary concern when electing any party. The Liberals, NDP, Conservatives and Greens have all released these online now. Please take some time to go over them and let’s all be informed voters.
There have been so many political posts, tweets, tik toks and opinion pieces that my endorsement of any candidate would only be drowned out even if I tried. I will not endorse anyone or tell you who I think you should vote for. We’re ALL Canadians, and whomever prevails in this election will be OUR Prime Minister. Let’s get behind them, respect them (no more f*%# so and so flags) and, if they fail to live up to the promises, voice your ideas and vote them out in the next election.
The most important thing you can do is to vote.
Please vote.
Please, go out an vote. Make your voice heard.