Categories: Life

Centrists: The Votes That Actually Decide

If politics today feels like a wrestling match where you’re expected to cheer blindly for the guy in red tights or the one in blue tights, congratulations. You might be a centrist. Not center-right, nor center-left. I true centrist with no colours attached.

Contrary to popular belief, a centrist is not someone who “doesn’t care.” That insult usually comes from people who treat politics like a family heirloom: inherited, unquestioned, and defended even when it’s cracked and leaking. Centrists care deeply. We simply refuse to outsource our thinking to a party logo, a colour, or a cult of personality.

Being centrist means evaluating ideas on their merit, not their branding. It means accepting that the left is sometimes right, the right is sometimes right, and both can be dangerously wrong at the same time. It also means rejecting the extremes, not because they’re loud or offensive, but because absolutism tends to rot institutions from the inside out.

Unlike the American two-party system, where centrists are often treated like political orphans, Canadian politics actively courts them. It has to. Minority governments, shifting coalitions, and multi-party dynamics make centrists the difference between opposition benches and governing power. In Canada, centrists are not an afterthought. They are the hinge.

Nearly half of Canadian voters consistently identify as moderate, swing voters, or politically unaffiliated. In the United States, despite the daily circus, independents and moderates still represent the single largest voting bloc. These are the voters who don’t cast a ballot out of habit or hatred. They vote based on platforms, leadership, credibility, and the actual needs of the country at a given moment.

In other words, centrists keep political parties honest. Or at least nervous. And nervous politicians behave better.

In my 40 plus years of voting eligibility in Canada, I have voted for just about every major political party. That fact alone unsettles people who believe political loyalty should resemble a lifelong marriage instead of a performance-based contract. I am as centrist as one can be, someone who can be persuaded one way or another based on leadership, policy, competence, and the social climate of the time.

That doesn’t make me indecisive. It makes me discerning.

Here are some of the principles that guide my vote and define who I am.

I value:

Women and their rights. Not selectively. Not conditionally. Not when convenient.
Free speech, including speech I disagree with. Rights that only protect agreeable opinions are decorative, not real.
Respect. For oneself and for others. Civility isn’t weakness, it’s social glue.
Racial equality. Equal opportunity, equal accountability, equal dignity.
Education. An informed population is harder to manipulate and less likely to panic on command.
Discipline and responsibility. Parenting is not a negotiation, and leadership isn’t crowd-sourcing.
Law and order, even when I disagree with specific laws. Without consistent enforcement, society becomes arbitrary and tribal.
Fiscal responsibility. Compassion without a calculator eventually runs out of other people’s money.
God and Jesus, practiced privately and sincerely. Political cosplay Christianity makes my stomach turn and my faith wince.

I respect:

People’s sexual orientation. Who you love doesn’t threaten me, my marriage, or my masculinity.
The right to differing opinions. Debate should sharpen ideas, not replace dialogue with insults.
Freedom of religion and freedom from religion. Faith is only meaningful when it aligns with humility, peace, and compassion.
Authority, when it is earned and restrained. Respect disappears the moment power turns abusive.
Hard work, regardless of profession. Society runs on people who show up, not influencers who posture.
Immigration done properly, humanely, and responsibly. Systems matter, not just slogans.

I have no tolerance for:

Abuse of children, women, or the elderly. There is no grey area here.
Lies, misinformation, and propaganda, no matter which political team benefits.
Hateful behaviour disguised as bravery or “just being honest.”
War. The people who suffer are rarely the ones who vote for it.
Conspiracy theories, especially when evidence and science have already settled the matter.
AI or bot-generated content used to manipulate public opinion. Fake voices erode real democracy.
Political extremism, on the far right or far left. Different rhetoric, same intolerance, same obsession with control.
Leaders who govern by outrage rather than solutions.

This centrist reality is exactly why figures like Mark Carney matter. Running under the Liberal banner, his platform leaned noticeably more fiscally disciplined, pragmatic, and economically conservative than the Trudeau era that preceded him, under the same banner. That shift mattered. It signalled competence over ideology and responsibility over theatre. As a result, he attracted many centre-right voters who had enough of Trudeau’s government, and who would normally default to the Conservatives, not because of party loyalty, but because credibility crossed the aisle.

That’s how centrists decide elections. Not emotionally. Not tribalistically. Practically.

If that catalogue of values, or speaking out about extremists, earns me the label “Libtard,” as I’ve been accused on social media, so be it. Labels are cheap and often applied by people who prefer name-calling and shouting to listening, and division to dialogue and understanding. The obsession with categorizing others tends to come from those who struggle with nuance and complexity.

But those labels don’t define me. They don’t speak to my values as a man, a father, a husband, or a member of society. They speak volumes about the people using them. And that lesson, I learned a long time ago.

Centrism isn’t fence-sitting. It’s standing firmly on principle while refusing to be dragged to the edges by outrage merchants and political grifters. It’s voting with your brain instead of your tribe. It’s understanding that democracy was never meant to be a team sport, a religion, or a loyalty test.

You see, for a centrist with no alliance to any party, the definition of “stupidity” is knowing the truth, seeing the truth, but still believing the lies.

Political parties don’t win by pandering to the loudest voices. They understand that they already have their votes. They would vote for a rock if it was painted blue or red. No, good leaders know how to read the crowds and feel their pulse. They win by earning the trust of the quiet majority.

And that majority is watching.