Let's get ready to rumble!
Oh, fuck yeah. Last night, this was the news of the evening.
We're having an election January 23rd, baby! Now, for many, this is a time of trepidation as we wonder who is going to form the next government. Canadians have lost faith in the Liberals, this is clear.
So who is going to form the next government? Everyone knows the Conservatives are no better - they may not have the scandals, but their views on health care, education, child care et cetera do not fall in line with the values of Canadians. Quite simply, we don't love everything they stand for.
I know there are some that love their platform, particularly in Alberta and maybe Saskatchewan. But overall, they're not representative of the sort of country we want in Canada. We don't want to privatise health care and send women back to the kitchens, do we? We don't want immigrants to be left out in the cold when it comes to job opportunities and contributing to the very culture of Canada. We don't want more corporate tax cuts and for our country to be even more of the US's puppet.
We want sovereignty. A strong military. Good health care and social services. Universal child care. Strong cities that are able to deliver the goods: In short, we want the NDP. Now, now, I know what you are going to say next: The NDP is a dreamer's party. They can't balance a budget. Jack Layton doesn't look like a Prime Minister. If I vote NDP, my vote will be wasted. They can't win.
I've heard all of these excuses and more.
But here's the rub: If all the people who said they'd like to vote for the NDP, but were afraid of the Conservatives just did it rather than trying to strategically vote, we'd have something. If you look at the last election's numbers you'll see that in many ridings, the NDP lost by less than 1000 votes - and in some ridings, it was even closer. This says something; this says that people are voting for the NDP across Canada, but unlike the Liberals and Conservatives who have lots of support in specific regions, the NDP is popular across many ridings - which can be a disadvantage, as we don't have concentrations of NDPers in certain ridings with enough numbers to secure the seats.
But with your help, we CAN!
Another point to ponder about elections: Our system is not fair. It favours cadre parties that have these concentrated pockets of supporters in ridings rather than parties that have widespread support across the country. It's not based at all on popular vote, just who gets the most votes in a riding. In the last election, the NDP got 15.7 percent of the popular vote - and 19 seats (18 now, as one left the party and is now sitting as an independent). Sound good? Well, the Liberals got 36.7% of the popular vote - and 134 seats!!
Now imagine a Paliament based on popular vote with 37 percent of the seats being Liberals, 3o percent Conservatives, 13 percent Bloc Quebecois and 16 percent NDP. Think things would be different? I do.
Also, how many people would vote differently under a proportional representation system where they didn't have to worry about strategically voting to win in their riding; instead, they could merely vote for whom they wanted and that would be reflected in the popular vote, thus helping their party win? The end of strategic voting? *Gasp!* Perish the thought!
Okay, kids, what have we learned today?
1) That the Liberals are corrupt bastards who don't deserve to win - not even another minority.
2) The Conservatives are USer wannabes who need to stop taking money from the NRA and start paying attention to Canada - and Canadian values. Seriously. Check out their website. After you get beyond the nightmares of Stephen Harper's face at night, look at their issues, what they want for Canada - it's some scary shit.
3) That maybe, just maybe we should give the NDP a chance. Remember! Tommy Douglas, the Greatest Canadian was an NDPer. Yeah, we've had some bad NDP governments in BC and Ontario, but we've had loads more bad Conservative and Liberal governments (*coughRalphKleinDaltonMcGuintyPaulMartinBrianMulroneycough*) so that isn't really a good excuse. And if you take 5 minutes to just read the NDP platform, you'll see they don't really live in some magic land where money grows on trees. Their ideas are fiscally sound, and this has even been acknowledged by economists and business people.
So let's give them a chance this go around, can't we?
We're having an election January 23rd, baby! Now, for many, this is a time of trepidation as we wonder who is going to form the next government. Canadians have lost faith in the Liberals, this is clear.
So who is going to form the next government? Everyone knows the Conservatives are no better - they may not have the scandals, but their views on health care, education, child care et cetera do not fall in line with the values of Canadians. Quite simply, we don't love everything they stand for.
I know there are some that love their platform, particularly in Alberta and maybe Saskatchewan. But overall, they're not representative of the sort of country we want in Canada. We don't want to privatise health care and send women back to the kitchens, do we? We don't want immigrants to be left out in the cold when it comes to job opportunities and contributing to the very culture of Canada. We don't want more corporate tax cuts and for our country to be even more of the US's puppet.
We want sovereignty. A strong military. Good health care and social services. Universal child care. Strong cities that are able to deliver the goods: In short, we want the NDP. Now, now, I know what you are going to say next: The NDP is a dreamer's party. They can't balance a budget. Jack Layton doesn't look like a Prime Minister. If I vote NDP, my vote will be wasted. They can't win.
I've heard all of these excuses and more.
But here's the rub: If all the people who said they'd like to vote for the NDP, but were afraid of the Conservatives just did it rather than trying to strategically vote, we'd have something. If you look at the last election's numbers you'll see that in many ridings, the NDP lost by less than 1000 votes - and in some ridings, it was even closer. This says something; this says that people are voting for the NDP across Canada, but unlike the Liberals and Conservatives who have lots of support in specific regions, the NDP is popular across many ridings - which can be a disadvantage, as we don't have concentrations of NDPers in certain ridings with enough numbers to secure the seats.
But with your help, we CAN!
Another point to ponder about elections: Our system is not fair. It favours cadre parties that have these concentrated pockets of supporters in ridings rather than parties that have widespread support across the country. It's not based at all on popular vote, just who gets the most votes in a riding. In the last election, the NDP got 15.7 percent of the popular vote - and 19 seats (18 now, as one left the party and is now sitting as an independent). Sound good? Well, the Liberals got 36.7% of the popular vote - and 134 seats!!
Now imagine a Paliament based on popular vote with 37 percent of the seats being Liberals, 3o percent Conservatives, 13 percent Bloc Quebecois and 16 percent NDP. Think things would be different? I do.
Also, how many people would vote differently under a proportional representation system where they didn't have to worry about strategically voting to win in their riding; instead, they could merely vote for whom they wanted and that would be reflected in the popular vote, thus helping their party win? The end of strategic voting? *Gasp!* Perish the thought!
Okay, kids, what have we learned today?
1) That the Liberals are corrupt bastards who don't deserve to win - not even another minority.
2) The Conservatives are USer wannabes who need to stop taking money from the NRA and start paying attention to Canada - and Canadian values. Seriously. Check out their website. After you get beyond the nightmares of Stephen Harper's face at night, look at their issues, what they want for Canada - it's some scary shit.
3) That maybe, just maybe we should give the NDP a chance. Remember! Tommy Douglas, the Greatest Canadian was an NDPer. Yeah, we've had some bad NDP governments in BC and Ontario, but we've had loads more bad Conservative and Liberal governments (*coughRalphKleinDaltonMcGuintyPaulMartinBrianMulroneycough*) so that isn't really a good excuse. And if you take 5 minutes to just read the NDP platform, you'll see they don't really live in some magic land where money grows on trees. Their ideas are fiscally sound, and this has even been acknowledged by economists and business people.
So let's give them a chance this go around, can't we?
posted by Justine at 10:04 a.m.
2 comments
