It is great to be a Canadian; with socialized healthcare, hockey, poutine, manners, and the CBC. Americans just don’t get it. What else do Americans not get? An election which is really a collection of threehundred-thirtyeight mini elections. So unlike our neighbours to the South, where a presidential election is a tightly controlled and scritped dog and pony show, a Canadian election is a free-for-all of candidates. These candidates are not carefully vetted and closely monitored by the party brass (at least not as much as an American candidate would be). So we get to see a myriad of stars, brains, smiles, and yes- some losers and wingnuts.
Gilles Guibord was a Conservative candidate in a Montreal riding riding until he was outed by a local blogger for sexist remarks he spewwed on social media. Some “wisdom” that Guibord shared in a blog included the opinion that men “have authority over women” not only thanks to Biblical scripture, but also due to man’s physical strength over women. Guibord also challenged aboriginal historical rights to land, saying that it is actually the French who hold ancestral rights to the lands in Quebec. We, the public, still don’t know if Guibord resigned acfter his gaffes came to light, or if the Conservative Party fired him, but there is yet no Tory replacement for him in the riding of Rosemont-La Petite-Patrie.
William Moughrabi, Conservative candidate for Ahuntsic-Cartierville deleted his Facebook account after the media blasted him for extremely violent posts as well as some very sexist ones. Moughrabi apologized, but refused to resign. Stephen Harper did not comment on his candidate. Moughrabi should consider resigning. Violence and sexism aside, the Tories need a stronger candidate. Moughrabi sits in fourth place, behind first place Liberals, second place NDP, and third place Bloc Quebecois. Only a few points separate Moughrabi and last place Greens.
Not one to be outdone, the Liberals have gifted Calgarians with Ala Buzreba. Again, ghosts of social media came back to haunt the political hopeful. Quotes including, “Your mother should have used that coat hanger” and homophobic quips such as “I look like a flipping lesbian” forced Buzreba to publicly apologize. Her excuse was that these were horrible things said as a teenager and she even held the support of leader Justin Trudeau. Public opinion proved too much however and Buzreba was forced to resign. The Liberal Party promise to run someone new but have yet to find a suitable replacement.
Even the Green Party, whom have been all but ignored by the media, have had a few gaffes hit the headlines when candidate Gary Beamish withdrew from the election to support his New Democrat counterpart. When pressed about the turn of events, Elizabeth May said that she would respect his decision as the Green Party is a grassroots party. However, the Green Party executive have stated their distaste of supporting another party. Beamish. representing Peterborough-Kawartha maintains that his decision is whats best for the future of the country.
The Green Party however gained the unexpected support of two New Democrats. Parry Sound-Muskoka NDP Riding Association President Clyde Mobbley was dismissed from the party when he urged the party faithful to throw their support behind the riding’s Green candidate. Jose Nunez-Melo was elected to the house of commons in 2011 but had a falling out with the New Democrats and crossed the floor to the Green Party. Nunez-Melo will be running as a Green in the riding of Vimy.
The leaders are not immune to the occasional gaffe either. From Justin Trudeau’s carebear take on fixing the economy from the heart outward to Elizabeth May’s colourful pre-campaign speech at the Parliamentary Press Gallery dinner, the leaders have been known to turn heads. Lest we forget the gruesome beauty that was May’s most bizarre public appearance, the dinner speech led many to believe May was either drunk or high. She played the themesong to “Welcome Back Kotter” on her cellphone into the mic, she accused male politicians of being slaves to Freud’s sexual drive theory, she cursed without merit, and she accused the government cabinet of having little to no class. May later apologized and denied that she was under the influence of anything but that rather that she was sleep deprived and trying to be funny.
The gold standard for political gaffes goes to Conservative candidate Jerry Bance. in 2012 Bance was caught on camera by the CBC urinating into a homeowner’s coffee mug while answering a service call. Bance is running in a Toronto battleground riding and has the full support of the party. Cabinet Minister Jason Kenney has campaigned and posed for photos with Bance. Scarborough-Rouge Park will likely need more than Jason Kenney to convince them that their vote is best spent on a repairman who urinates in people’s mugs and dumps his waste down kitchen sinks.
It almost makes Donald Trump’s shrewd and sexist comments look downright acceptable. And they say Canadian politics are boring. I challenge that notion!
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