Don't let the Conservative Party leadership race go unheeded.
The lesson voters have learned from the U.S. Republican contest is that a wide field can easily be overtaken by the person who has the most celebrity or generates the most controversy.
The Conservative Party in Canada has a long and honourable tradition in this country. And in our parliamentary system, we need bracing debate from all points on the political spectrum to be a functioning democracy.
What we don't need is a Conservative Party leader who is long on bombastic self-promotion or who is trying to be Donald Trump Lite. What we need is a thoughtful leader who has a clear vision of the future.
Thoughtful leadership is, however, difficult to portray when there are so many people in the field (14 candidates at last count: Chris Alexander, Maxime Bernier, Steven Blaney, Michael Chong, Kellie Leitch, Pierre Lemieux, Deepak Obhrai, Kevin O'Leary, Erin O'Toole, Rick Peterson, Lisa Raitt, Andrew Saxton, Andrew Scheer and Brad Trost.).
Too often, the media has difficulty in relating complex ideas to its listeners, readers and viewers, so it's so easy for people to be drawn in by the most outlandish headline or idea. What's more, we have seen what happens when people get caught in a bubble of information that merely substantiates their own views.
To counter this, people with an interest in national government will have to do their own homework and get their information from the widest range of sources — and not just from the candidates themselves (we've seen how well that's working out south of the border).
There are certainly enough topics to pay attention to, from the current cross-border refugee situation to a carbon tax, deficit-budgeting and protecting Canada's interest when NAFTA is re-opened.
So take some time and learn about each candidate's vision, and pay attention to the debate. When the Conservative Party leadership election takes place May 27, let's hope it's a gracious contest between concerned and responsive politicians, not a shouting match or Twitter battle between fearmongering sloganeers.
