You know, it’s one thing when radical leftists and environmentalists nag you about your gas consumption or how much hot water you’re using. It’s quite anoter when self-described reasonable centrists and – worse – right-wingers do it.
We are used to NDPers and Green Party types nagging us about car-free days and days when we’re not supposed to shop, and general exhortations that we shiver quietly in the dark while munching on alfalfa crisps. Those of us in Ontario are also used to Dalton McGuinty nagging us about smoking and smart meters and how hot the water in our water tanks can be. In Ottawa they’re about to ban smoking in outdoors parks and patios.
We are used to this sort of stuff coming from the usual nit-picking suspects. But when people who describe themselves as right-wingy start bugging us about our private behaviour it just gets to be too much. The new, supposedly somewhat non-left-wing party in Quebec, the Coalition for the future of Quebec (which has merged with the Action Democratique party), just announced that their environmental platform would contain measures to reduce Quebecers’ dependence on cars, and measures that would encourage Quebecers to limit themselves to one car per family.
I don’t know about you, but I don’t know any family that has more cars than it needs. Oh, I know some rich people like to collect cars. And I’m sure there are weirdos out there who would rather live in their mother’s basement than give up their expensive wheels. But normal families? Do you know many who just casually buy cars they don’t need?
Me neither. People drive cars because they have to. Because they have healthy active kids. Because they shop at Costco to save money. Because where they live transit is not convenient. I was once young and unattached, living the carefree life in downtown Montreal. I didn’t have a car, because I didn’t need one. I saved tons of money. This doesn’t work so well if you have three kids and live outside of St-Hyacinthe.
And besides, who cares how many cars Quebec families have? It sure isn’t politician’s business, especially not right-wing ones. Leave the nagging to left-wingers, OK?
