Entries Tagged 'Canada' ↓

I know that Dr. Keith Martin, a good man, has won this riding repeatedly in the past – but he stepped down and a new Liberal candidate is in place.

I had the pleasure of meeting Dr. Martin just before the last election in which we were opposing candidates, him the incumbent Liberal and me just trying to represent common sense as a candidate for the Green Party of Canada. Dr. Martin saw the writing on the wall; as more people moved into the suburbs of Langford, the riding grew more Conservative. In recent elections, the Conservative share of the vote had been steadily increasing, and indeed in the 2008 election, Dr. Martin won by only 68 votes.

I was accused of nearly handing the riding to the Conservatives in that election, as I garnered 8.2% of the vote, an increase of about 1,500 from the previous election and nearly enough to sink Dr. Martin. (Assuming, of course, that I was taking all my votes from him, and not from any Conservative/NDP/independent candidates. And rather unfairly ignoring the droves of former Liberal voters who stayed home.)

This time around and Mr. Ignatieff is no more popular than Mr. Dion was – less, even. Honestly, I don’t understand why. He seems like a sharp cookie, decent guy, a little arrogant but then they all seem that way; I think that Canadians are just done with the Liberals, at least for now. They’ve become too much like the Conservatives, so one of them has become irrelevant.

Given all this, Liberal turnout in EJdF is likely to be low again, to say the least, and that could easily allow the Conservative candidate to win.

However, Randall Garrison is back for the NDP, by all reports a strong candidate. Can’t say I’ve met him, but people I respect and who have worked with and/or campaigned against Mr. Garrison say he’s a good guy. In the 2006 election, he came in second place, not far behind Dr. Martin.

There is a real chance that this riding could change hands this election – the question is to whom. Liberal and Green voters are the deciding factor in this riding:

• If they vote Liberal or Green, very likely the Conservative will win
• If some switch votes to NDP, very likely the NDP will win

In the past, I have been totally opposed to strategic voting, but I’ve since realized that a) we must work within the political system we have, even while trying to change it, and b) there are better ways to support a party than simply voting.

Real Liberal supporters in EJdF should pair their votes; at least you would be helping elect a Liberal in another riding, given that this one is a lost cause.

I do think it is time to give the NDP a chance. The other major parties need to rethink their strategy, change leaders, and come up with a compelling vision. I wouldn’t say Jack Layton and the NDP have such a vision either, or if they have they haven’t communicated it very well, but at least the NDP is more likely to take some important steps in cleaning up Ottawa and in shifting us more toward the German/Nordic economic and social way of doing things, and less American.

If you’re a Liberal in Esquimalt Juan de Fuca, pair your vote so you see a Liberal elected somewhere, and vote NDP at home. The alternative is to see Esquimalt Juan de Fuca go Conservative, possibly at a time when the NDP will become the governing party.

If you’ve read my election ponderings, you’ll know I’m hoping for the NDP to make a breakthrough and have some real influence in the Canadian government. I think we need it.

At the same time, I was a Green Party candidate when Elizabeth May was the leader, and we have our differences on how things should be, and I’m no longer a Green Party of Canada member.

So you might not expect me to suggest that if Elizabeth May does not win her seat, the future Prime Minister should appoint her to the Senate. (There are three open seats.) While I disagree with Ms. May on some things, she is exactly the kind of person who should be a Senator: encyclopaedic, big picture knowledge, knows what works because she’s seen it being done somewhere, passionate, sometimes truthful to a fault.

And that would also give some voice to the hundreds of thousands of Green voters – almost one million in the last election – who will otherwise get completely shut out on election day.

It’s the honourable thing to do, and the right thing to do. Good when those collide. Just do it, Stephen/Jack/Ignatieff.

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By the way, my picks for the other two open seats would be Ed Broadbent and Peter Lougheed.

UPDATE: This riding poll says that Elizabeth May is leading in the riding and is projected to win.

That quote was from Don Newman, it is blatant shilling, and here’s why:

1. If your riding is overwhelmingly Conservative or Liberal or NDP no matter which way you vote, voting NDP does nothing toward a Harper majority.
2. If your riding is a toss-up, then a vote for the NDP:
   1. If the riding goes NDP, then your vote helped stop a majority.
   2. If it goes Liberal, then your vote didn’t matter.
   3. Only if it goes Conservative and the Liberal candidate lost by a smallish margin, can you say what Newman did.

So only in a few ridings will an NDP vote potentially help the dreaded majority. (And even there, you can get around holding your nose and voting for someone from a party that you don’t like by pairing your vote.)

Don Newman is a veteran broadcaster according to the Globe & Mail, and should know better – he does know better. So he’s using misinformation to scare people into voting Liberal.

NOTE:

The Bloc has also done this, but I don’t think Don Newman is a big Bloc supporter.

UPDATE: And for those of you in Saanich-Gulf Islands, it looks like the best chance to unseat Conservative Gary Lunn is Green Party Leader Elizabeth May, currently projected to win the riding.

Do you realize your power? Stephen Harper and his Conservatives do. That’s why they squashed on-campus polling stations. This young woman gets it:

“Youth can almost change the political landscape,” said Cooke, who’s excited to vote in her first election. “They have such different views than the people who do vote, it would be completely changed and more representative of the population.”

It would not take much to change the politics in this country, and you can do it.

15,000 swapped votes can change which party becomes government

Rick Mercer gets it. (He’s between a ‘young person’ and an ‘old fart,’ but not yet middle-aged, so not sure who he is. He’s hip but not a hipster.) But he completely understands how important it is for young folks to vote, both for the country and for themselves. His now-famous rant inspired vote mobs across Canada.

This is your election; you get to decide the direction this country takes. I hope you have seen that Stephen Harper’s anti-science, anti-environment, pro-US leaning policies are not what’s best for Canada – and I hope you get out there and tell him so with your vote.

Personally, I think it is time to give the NDP a shot. They’ll move us toward a more European society and economy, and look at how well Germany, Norway, Denmark, and other countries are doing compared to us in many ways.

But the choice is yours. This old fart humbly suggests you give the NDP a look – but regardless of your choice, take a hand in your future. Don’t let your parents pick your government.