Why We Should Vote For “Nashi”

By Volodymyr Kish

The Canadian Parliamentary elections are but a week away and sad to say, it seems as if the campaigns of all parties have tried to polarize the electorate to an extent seldom seen in history.  The once dominant centrist vote that has been a constant almost since the time of Confederation has been under unrelenting attack with the leaders of the parties doing all they can to demonize their opponents and push voters into antagonistic camps with simplistic and inflammatory rhetoric.

Canadians have always been a moderate lot, eschewing any radical swings towards either the socialist “Promised Land” or the economic Darwinism of the free-enterprise right.  We have always tended to keep a foot in both camps and have steered a political course that has taken the best ideas from both sides and created a political compromise that has served Canada well.  Anyone who seriously studies political history eventually realizes that no self-righteous ideology of either the right or left holds either a monopoly on truth or the answers to all the challenges that an evolving society and economic system inevitably brings.  Progress comes from creating effective equilibriums between the various political forces in a given society and developing compromises that all can live with.

For the past several elections, Stephen Harper has tried to persuade Canadians that a hard swing to the right is required to “fix” what is wrong with Canada.  From my perspective, when I look at how other leading countries of the world are faring both politically and economically, I frankly don’t think there is anything particularly wrong with Canada.  In fact, I would dare say that we are managing things better than most other developed countries in this world.

The Liberal Party, on the other hand, seem to have lost their direction and any semblance of a coherent vision of what they stand for - past, present or future.  This, coupled with a puzzling inability to pick an effective and inspiring leader, has left them wandering in the political wilderness, wallowing in a self-induced angst.

So who is one to vote for, when the thought of either Harper, Ignatieff, Layton or Duceppe as Prime Minister makes one want to stay at home on Election Day?  If I were to address this issue strictly as a Canadian, I would say that frankly it doesn’t particularly matter; one should vote where one’s natural political leanings are most comfortable.  In the long run, I am confident that Canadians will always eventually find the right political equilibrium to suit the times.

As a Ukrainian Canadian however, I would strongly urge all Ukrainians to vote for a Ukrainian candidate if there is one in your riding, regardless of political affiliation, or the candidate that is most sympathetic and supportive of the ethnic or multicultural make-up of Canadian society.  Let us be pragmatic.  If preserving a Ukrainian identity in Canada is at all meaningful to us; if supporting the evolution of Ukraine into a democratic country on the world stage is important to us; if the preservation of the multicultural reality of Canada resonates at all with us – then we must do all we can to ensure that amongst the brokers that walk the parliamentary halls of power, there are Ukrainians and other Canadians who share in those aspirations.  Let us be realistic - if there are no Wrzesnewskyjs, Wongs, Szabos, Rodriguez, Komarnickis, Harygiannis, Dhaliwals, Chongs or Ablonczys in Parliament, ethnic or multicultural affairs would sooner or later disappear from this or any other government’s agenda.  As “ethnics” we must ensure that we have as much visibility in the corridors of power as possible. We must ensure that Canadian politicians and Canadians in general never lose sight that this is a multicultural country founded on immigrant roots and built by immigrant labour.

If you have a Borys Wrzesnewskyj or someone like him or her in your riding, a person who is in equal measures a loyal and hardworking Canadian, as well as a proud and unswerving supporter of his ethnic community, then vote for them, regardless of the party.  In the end, it is individuals like them that bear the values and spirit of a party, a people and a nation.  They deserve your support because they support what is important to you.