In just five weeks, the people of Canada will hear campaign rhetoric and then vote for 308 members of the Canadian Parliament. The election was called by Prime Minister Stephen Harper in early September and election day is next Tuesday.

The prime minister is not directly elected, but that person is the leader of the majority party in Parliament. Harper has been the leader of a minority government and is seeking a majority government. That means he must have had elected over half of the members. The second ranking party is the Official Opposition.

The PM is the leader of his party, a member of Parliament from his own riding (a district) and is the head of government. The Queen of England, represented in Canada by the Governor General (the current one is ethnic Haitian and a woman) is the head of state.

Here, we have spent most of the past four years listening to candidates for the single office of president (often called the most powerful person in the world). Four long years, the last two the worst, hearing promises, pledges and even flat lies. By the time election day comes on Nov. 4, we are so sick of the process we want to never hear another campaign speech. Within six months, though, someone will be campaigning to be elected president in 2012.

We are not suggesting we become a Parliamentary Democracy, just wish we would have a law governing the length of political constests. Some states have term limits, which we think are unnecessary, because voters can decide how long some member of the Legislature, Congress or a president or governor stays in office. If we like him or her, we vote to keep them. Not like them? Dump them.

Europeans laugh at our perpetual election cycle. "By the time you elect someone, everybody detests them and wishes they were gone," a British Member of Parliament said recently with a chuckle. "Here they get to stay in office for a year or so before we give them the boot."

Then there are the unsubstantiated allegations against an opponent. These will almost invariably be followed by lies and damned lies along with gross distortions.

In our state, Dino Rossi and Chris Gregoire have very expensive advertising campaigns filled with half truths and hyperbole. We just want to know what each will truly do in office. We hope they will point out what each will do differently from the other and not simply how the other candidate lied or misrepresented the truth.

At this point, we feel Gregoire should be allowed to continue in office because her four years has shown her to be a strong leader, able to change with the times and adapt to the realities. She spent more on some areas that needed attention when she became governor. Now, with the financial mess spreading here, she will be forced to cut back.

Both she and Rossi have promised not to call for new taxes. That is one of those promises that may evaporate once the "realities of the situation" are clear, but we don't need any new taxes from state government with the pile of requests coming from the City of Seattle, Metro Transit (King County government) and Sound Transit - you know, that light rail outfit on the east side of Seattle.

- Jack Mayne