So, as we head into the long weekend for thanksgiving, the campaign is coming out of the final bend and sprinting to the finish line (to borrow on overused metaphor from track and field)... we've seen a lot of different things happen during this campaign: pressures from within the country and beyond our borders, a couple of choice sound bytes, debates about articles of clothing, and 2 lively debates between the party leaders.

So where does that leave me and my vote? Tough to say, as I want a government that is:

- environmentally conscious and pro-active in its policies to deal with rising energy costs and climate change in a sensible manner. an environmental policy should address a whole swath of issues - energy, transportation, urban planning, trade, education etc.
- fiscally sound in its spending, that manages our money so that there's growth in all sectors, with perhaps an emphasis on green jobs. programs that don't meet a high standard of return - and not only measured in dollars - should be reviewed.
- fully supportive of Canadian culture, which includes sports along with the usual arts. These are the things that make us proud to be canadian - that our filmmakers can produce well-regarded work, that our athletes are competitive, that our students can be ambassadors when they travel overseas because the world knows the contributions that Canada makes on this stage
- taking a leadership role in the world when it comes to conflict resolution - and this takes the form of both soft-touch diplomacy and military/policing missions where necessary. A stronger diplomatic corps, coupled with effective use of resources for the military should do the trick
- emphasizing the importance of development, but again, with efficient spending. projects should be a joint initiative between canada and the developing country and higher standards of results must be enforced.
- free education and health care for everyone. If that means more taxes, so be it.

On the face of things, I'm not sure what that makes me - fiscally conservative socially liberal environmentalist?

I think I prefer futurist - politics and governance is all about making sure that the actions we take today have the positive consequences for our future.

GO VOTE ON OCTOBER 14!!!