Time To Donate

Yup, it’s almost Christmas which means it’s time to open the cheque books and donate. Only this year it’s a bit different… I’m sure most of us have our favourite charities to give to but this month I’m considering an additional one. I’ve never given it any thought before but the events of the last few months have convinced me that it’s pretty important.

The great thing about the additional donation is that 75% of the donation is eligible for an income tax credit. Yes, that’s right, I’m talking about donating to your favourite federal political party. As most of you cringe, hear me out. I’m not a big fan of the Conservatives and this is where they hold a huge advantage over all of the other parties. The CPC has been very successful in raising large amounts of money from the general public over the last several years. The other parties, not so much. They rely heavily on the $ per vote subsidy which may soon be as scarce as the dodo bird. They say that the Liberal party is pretty much out of money, and I doubt that the NDP or Greens have much more. This allows the CPC to really push their message and influence the public. Consider just the past 2 weeks where the CPC have seemed to successfully convinced Canadians that the proposed Coalition was un-democratic, illegitimate, canceling votes and was essentially a coup d’etat. That is completely incorrect, but the message was served and received. The Liberals, bless their mixed up little hearts, managed to send out a video of Dion, filmed using his daughters webcam (kidding, but not really).

Without a coalition in 2009, the opposition is heavily restricted in what they can do. The simple fact is that they cannot afford an election. Therefore they will not be able to effectively oppose a vote of confidence which would undoubtedly end with an election.

So this year I’m planning on sending out a donation knowing that 3/4 of it will be returned to me in April, and knowing that this is one of the most direct ways that I can influence the shape of our government.