Now comes the silliest season of all. No, not a winter without snow, nor a summer without heat, which Jasperites have had to endure in the recent past. The coming weeks mark the final sprint to the finish for Canadian politicians as they beg, plead and smear their way along in an attempt to curry favour with voters. Though not in Alberta, mind you. Our province has been the forgotten stepchild of Confederation over the last month, as federal party leaders (Calgarian Stephen Harper included) pass high overhead, shuttling between the two crucial battlegrounds of Ontario and British Columbia.

As the race winds down, we will be treated to several traditional spectacles. Another leaders’ debate is set for Monday evening, and already the tone of television advertising has taken a turn toward the impolite. It isn’t likely to improve, as both Harper and Martin attempt to wrap themselves as tightly in the flag as possible without asphyxiating. The final of the usual campaign chestnuts is the newspaper endorsement, in which the editorial board of a prominent broadsheet pledges their support to one party or the other. Or none, as the case may be.

Well, around the Fitzhugh we have an editorial board consisting of one member, and this week the board believes it is high time for our fledgling publication to announce the electoral outcome of its choice. But rather than run up the banner of just a single party, whether it be Liberal red, Conservative blue or even Green ... well, green, the Fitzhugh would like to take a realistic view of matters. It appears very unlikely that any single party will control the House of Commons when the ballots are counted, so what pundits and the public are really left to ponder is what combination of parties would be best to lead this nation. From this corner, that decision is an easy one — let the voting population (that’s right, all 54.9 per cent or so) deliver a Conservative-NDP minority.

We know that this marriage might seemed doomed to failure, and that Stephen Harper has flat-out declared that he would not entertain thoughts of a negotiated coaltion if provided the most seats in Parliament, but hear us out.

The Conservative Party is, day by day, proving itself to have innovative and interesting ideas on most crucial policy files. With each passing week another platform plank is run out by the wooden Harper and his good-looking fellow travellers and each in its turn comes back looking like the most attractive option. Except in one key area: same-sex marriage. Harper is wrong to want to re-open this debate and if he has to rely on the NDP to survive in government, he won’t be able to.

At the same time, Jack Layton and crew have a number of hare-brained ideas that don’t seem to ever die. Like their absurd defence of a universal health-care system that clearly no longer exists in this country, and the concept of renegotiating or pulling out of NAFTA. On the other hand, we believe that when it comes to elements of social policy, the Dippers have it right.

There are points at which the twain can meet. Accountability, for example. Electoral reform, in all likelihood. The bottom line is this: the Liberal Party is tired and rapidly running out of both excuses and ideas. The Bloc Quebecois wants to break up the country. The Greens are still a decade away from being a political force. That leaves us with two parties, both alike in dignity and also in the incomplete nature of their platforms. Maybe, just maybe, if given the chance, the Conservatives and the NDP could work together to make some much-needed change in Canada. Let’s hope they get that opportunity.