Of one thing I am convinced: the end never justifies the means.
In fact, the older I get, the more I see that bad means and bad ends always go together. And so it is with political campaigning: for over a decade now I had to endure the mud slinging, character assassinations and fear mongering of the Conservative campaign machine. That alone disqualifies them in my eyes, simply because it reveals a mindset that does not fit my vision of a caring, compassionate Canada.
My heart is with the agenda of compassion of the NDP, and in this election I will vote strategically anyway, but I must say that as the Harper machine unleashes another barrage of below-the-belt attacks on Justin Trudeau, and that one refuses to get dragged down to their level, it makes him look good: on one hand, an intelligent, likeable person, on the other hand just negativity and fear mongering.
If you really want to be scared, think about another four years of secrecy and erosion of democracy.
Florian Maurer
Naramata