Election 2015: Going To The Place You Miss

I HAD COFFEE WITH A GROUP OF FRIENDS I meet with occasionally at a local coffee shop. Some were retired, but easily half of them were still in their careers. The topics of conversation often vary widely, but on this occasion they were focused on the recent federal political debate from Calgary. And they were troubled.It would be fair to say that the majority of the group came from the progressive conservative persuasion. Their parents had voted that way and they just kind of stayed on with it. Most had voted for Brian Mulroney in the 1980s.But the recent version of conservatism expressed by the present federal government was driving them to distraction. They viewed it as austere, too politically partisan, and far more focused on dividing the country than they should be.I have a book of poems at home written by Theodore Roethke, and as I listened to all the coffee shop debate that morning one of his reflections came back to me: “Be sure that whatever you are is you.” At that particular moment my conservatively progressive friends were suffering a kind of identity crisis that was building steam as the election date nears. And then came out the sentiment that most politicians dread to hear: “We’re just not sure how to vote anymore.”  It is a quandary likely felt my millions of Canadians from all stripes as parties move away from their historic bearings.The political inclinations of these folks were dearly held and historically supported. They viewed themselves as being part of a heritage that had helped to build this vast country through inclusion and breadth. Now they feel lost and don’t know where to park their vote.It’s important to remember that political terms like conservative, liberal, or socialist are increasingly hard to nail down – the parties are shifting all over the political spectrum. Think of David Cameron’s Tory Conservatives in Britain and how their accomplishment together looks nothing like their Canadian cousins.Cameron recently won a healthy electoral victory while talking about moderating the austerity the country had painfully endured. He is in the process of introducing sweeping regulations of the British financial sector. The Conservatives are increasing spending on their national health service. They are raising some taxes, and have raised the minimum wage for anyone over 25 to $14 an hour. Cameron speaks aggressively about global warming and annual carbon budgets, and he has increased foreign aid 36% since 2011.None of these things sound like Canada’s Conservative government, not even close. In reality, Cameron’s party is governing to the left of all the American Republican candidates and Stephen Harper.This is the kind of conservatism that Canadians have known and historically felt comfortable with. It was a willing partner in the building of Canada into a fair and productive nation both home and abroad. We owe them much.But my coffee shop friends are experiencing great difficulty in locating that fairer kind of Conservatism, except, perhaps, in one another. They supported the present government reluctantly in the beginning, but have grown increasingly alarmed at its heavy-handedness. As one of them noted, they are feeling increasingly lost. All Canadian parties are morphing and they see that, but at present they are becoming desperate to follow the advice of author Toba Beta: “When you don’t know where to start, just go to the place you miss so much.” But where is that? It’s likely that this question, and the response to it, could have some considerable effect on Election Day.