My fellow Canadians;

As election day looms, it is traditional for the political parties to tell you that the choice has never been clearer, the stakes have never been higher.

This election is no different. The country, Stephen Harper says, stands at “a fork in the road,” a point on which he is in complete agreement with Stéphane Dion. To hear the leaders speak, it is a choice between the “laissez-faire, I-don’t-care” approach of the Conservatives, or the “massive” and “reckless” increases in taxes and spending the Liberals would impose—not to mention the “old-fashioned socialism” of the NDP.

We in the media are only too eager to reinforce this all-party message of significance. It would be a surprise if we didn’t—we are, after all, in the significance business. We find significance in every passing cloud.

So it is with a heavy heart that I have to tell you that, sometimes, there just isn’t that much at stake; that in this election the choice is fuzzy; that whatever the differences between the parties, they do not amount to the kind of stark parting of the ways that all the parties would have you believe.

Let’s begin with the economy, the issue that, halfway through the campaign, suddenly vaulted from the most important issue to the only issue. I know that many of you are anxious about your RRSPs, worried about the value of your home, perhaps even fearful of losing your job. You should know that none of the party leaders proposes to do anything about it.