Unpredictable. Unfocused. Just like life.

There is an election going on in Canada; the fourth one in eleven years. The incumbent Liberal goverment under Paul Martin is campaigning hard against the Conservatives, saying that they will impose U.S.-style values on Canada. The Conservatives want to lower taxes, something Mr. Martin had promised to do when he was finance minister a few years ago. Battered by scandals about questionable spending, and even though Canada has a surplus of over $11 billion, Mr. Martin now says that lowering taxes is un-Canadian. Apparently overtaxing citizens is Canadian though.

Unfortunately for Mr. Martin, his provincial counterparts just this week announced the largest tax increase in Ontario's history. This after they had campaigned and won an election based on their sworn promise NOT to raise taxes, and to balance the budget. They even signed a pledge. Now of course they say that they had not choice and of course "we must do it for the children", the current most over-used line in politics.