Monday, May 23, 2011

Tale of Two Candidates

During the recent election campaign I discussed the issue of voting for the Christian Heritage Party (CHP) or for a mainstream party such as the Conservative Party. In two polls I conducted, one on Wonderquests, and the other on my student blog, most opted for a Christian running for the Conservative Party rather than a CHP candidate. There is an interesting footnote to this discussion and to the poll results. In this last election there were two candidates who are members of the Canadian Reformed Church, the same denomination I am a member of. Mike Schouten, who, years ago, was in my social studies class, ran for the CHP in the South Surrey-White Rock-Cloverdale riding. In Elmwood-Transcona riding, Laurence Toet, who I knew when I lived in Carman Manitoba in the late 1970s, ran and won the seat as a Conservative candidate. The easy analysis would be to say that my polls accurately reflect that, with Canada’s present system, getting elected as a Christian requires working within a mainstream party. But this kind of analysis leaves out important points.

First of all, while Laurence Toet is the first Canadian Reformed Member of Parliament, don’t look for him to be able to bring in sweeping social conservative values – like an end to same sex marriage or abortion on demand. He represents all of his constituents, not just the Christians. Also, he will have to toe the party line, as he was elected as a Conservative and on a Stephen Harper ticket. No doubt Laurence knew this before he was elected and probably sees a distinction between the role of government and the role of the church, as I discussed in my blog post on April 26 on the role of government.

On the other hand, the fact that Mike Schouten in South Surrey-White Rock-Cloverdale and the CHP in general did not win a seat does not mean that it was pointless to run. Candidates from smaller parties like the CHP do not really expect to win, although they need to be ready to serve as you cannot always predict the voters’ mood. Look at the many NDP candidates who found this out in Quebec. The CHP uses an election campaign as an opportunity to discuss important social conservative values and, as such, keep these issues on the table. It also gives many Christians the chance to cast their vote for a party that supports their values, enabling them to protest the status quo. Politics may be viewed as the art of the possible by many, but not all Christians see it that way and it is important for them to be able to participate in the process as well.

Regardless of what you believe about the connection between faith and politics, we can all appreciate that Christians like Mike and Laurence are willing to run, and I for one wish Laurence well as he seeks to fulfil his new role.

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