Canada is in the middle of a Federal election campaign. The vote is on October 19th.
Currently the Conservative Party under Stephen Harper has a majority in Parliament but the polls show a three-way race between the Conservatives, the Liberals under Justin Trudeau, and the New Democratic Party (NDP) under Thomas Mulcair.
About two-thirds of Canadians are intending to vote for anybody except the current Prime Minister (Stephen Harper). If you want to know why, listen to Blue Rodeo singing Stealin' All My Dreams.
Vote for the party in your riding that's most likely to beat the Conservatives.
I'm excited that my vote actually has a chance to mean something for once. Probably because of a combination of riding rejigging and lack of incumbent my riding has been identified as a swing riding. So, I'll vote ABC (which looks like Liberal at the moment), and a pox on people who say that the "Vote Together" idea and related concepts are undemocratic - I doubt that First Past the Post will go away in my lifetime, and until it does, strategic voting is the best we can do to try to avoid getting a majority government that was elected by a minority of voters.
Whereas since I have no strong preference between the Liberals and the NDP, and the Conservative candidate in my riding has no chance, my vote is practically worthless.
The world is going to breathe a massive sigh of relief when that cunt is finally out of office.
When considering wealthy democracies, Stephen Harper comes a close third behind Tony Abbott and Silvio Berlusconi for the worst leaders in recent history.
No, Ace, your comment indicates you have little understanding of Canadian democracy. Stephen Harper is the leader of the party that achieved a majority of seats in parliament through an election which was not challenged in any significant way. Your crude epithet therefore reflects upon all your fellow citizens who voted for his party. You are entitled to an opinion on what his party did or didn't achieve, and you are also free to persuade others to vote his party out of office next month. I doubt if your comment adds much to informed discussion in this area. (Disclosure - I have voted NDP in all of the last seven federal elections)
Peter, I'm aware of all of that so I don't see how my comment betrays the fact that "I have little understanding".
I am actually speaking as an outsider based on what we see in our press about his meddling with science and his doing virtually fuck-all to cooperate with other governments to mitigate anthropogenic global warming.
Coming from the UK, we have a very similar system to you where the party that that achieves a majority of seats in parliament gets to rule and they will elect a leader.
Having said that, leaders hold more sway than you realise over the direction that their party takes. For example: Have a look at how Jeremy Corbyn (and Tony Blair before him) have in their times radically changed the direction of the Labour party in the UK.
None of this really changes my opinion that Stephen Harper is a massive cunt and that the world would be better off without him at the helm.
What I find interesting is that people pendulum between parties and approaches. Whichever side is in power seems inevitably to piss off enough people to get fired.
Not the most efficient way to govern, but the alternatives somehow seem worse.
Vote for the party in your riding that's most likely to beat the Conservatives.
And given, as mentioned above, that proportional representation is not coming to Canada anytime in the near future, the best possible outcome would be a minority NDP government with a Liberal opposition.
Using current polling data, this would mean that approx. 60% of the voters would be directly represented by a party that could formulate policy, which is a big improvement over the typical 40% representation that our first past the post system gives a majority government.
I am actually a proponent of first-past-the-post, when used properly. It will result in more minority governments, and force them to compromise. Coalition governments are common throughout the world. Why do we think that it is a bad thing?
I'm not sure how one would use FPTP "properly" as opposed to how it is currently used. I am in favour of minority governments and coalitions. My understanding is that this tends to be the result of having some form of proportional representation and/or vote re-distribution system, as distinct from our existing system.
I refuse to vote for a certain reason. Anyways I see Harpur as a adversary or enemy of Canadians and French Canadians. Yet trudea is more of a enemy and the other is too. anyways as long as the supreme court rules the nation the contract of the people with a government is broken. its all illegal all ready. On top of this there is so much injustice of importance. Canada , at the moment, is in distress just like America.
Yes, yes ... we all know what you think. Canada is just like America because we're all descendants of Americans from Puritan New England.
You know what? I don't care what you think about history, or about science. You are so wrong about everything that you're not making any significant contribution to the discussion on this blog.
I'm excited that my vote actually has a chance to mean something for once. Probably because of a combination of riding rejigging and lack of incumbent my riding has been identified as a swing riding. So, I'll vote ABC (which looks like Liberal at the moment), and a pox on people who say that the "Vote Together" idea and related concepts are undemocratic - I doubt that First Past the Post will go away in my lifetime, and until it does, strategic voting is the best we can do to try to avoid getting a majority government that was elected by a minority of voters.
ReplyDeleteWhereas since I have no strong preference between the Liberals and the NDP, and the Conservative candidate in my riding has no chance, my vote is practically worthless.
DeleteThe world is going to breathe a massive sigh of relief when that cunt is finally out of office.
ReplyDeleteWhen considering wealthy democracies, Stephen Harper comes a close third behind Tony Abbott and Silvio Berlusconi for the worst leaders in recent history.
Worse then George W. Bush? I think not.
DeletePoint taken
DeleteNo, Ace, your comment indicates you have little understanding of Canadian democracy. Stephen Harper is the leader of the party that achieved a majority of seats in parliament through an election which was not challenged in any significant way. Your crude epithet therefore reflects upon all your fellow citizens who voted for his party.
ReplyDeleteYou are entitled to an opinion on what his party did or didn't achieve, and you are also free to persuade others to vote his party out of office next month.
I doubt if your comment adds much to informed discussion in this area.
(Disclosure - I have voted NDP in all of the last seven federal elections)
Peter, I'm aware of all of that so I don't see how my comment betrays the fact that "I have little understanding".
DeleteI am actually speaking as an outsider based on what we see in our press about his meddling with science and his doing virtually fuck-all to cooperate with other governments to mitigate anthropogenic global warming.
Coming from the UK, we have a very similar system to you where the party that that achieves a majority of seats in parliament gets to rule and they will elect a leader.
Having said that, leaders hold more sway than you realise over the direction that their party takes. For example: Have a look at how Jeremy Corbyn (and Tony Blair before him) have in their times radically changed the direction of the Labour party in the UK.
None of this really changes my opinion that Stephen Harper is a massive cunt and that the world would be better off without him at the helm.
What I find interesting is that people pendulum between parties and approaches. Whichever side is in power seems inevitably to piss off enough people to get fired.
ReplyDeleteNot the most efficient way to govern, but the alternatives somehow seem worse.
Vote for the party in your riding that's most likely to beat the Conservatives.
ReplyDeleteAnd given, as mentioned above, that proportional representation is not coming to Canada anytime in the near future, the best possible outcome would be a minority NDP government with a Liberal opposition.
Using current polling data, this would mean that approx. 60% of the voters would be directly represented by a party that could formulate policy, which is a big improvement over the typical 40% representation that our first past the post system gives a majority government.
I wish Trudeau was a more credible-looking candidate, but he ain't his dad (whom I remember very well).
ReplyDeleteYeah. and Mulcair ain't Tommy Douglas ... or Ed Broadbent ... or even Bob Rae.
DeleteI am actually a proponent of first-past-the-post, when used properly. It will result in more minority governments, and force them to compromise. Coalition governments are common throughout the world. Why do we think that it is a bad thing?
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure how one would use FPTP "properly" as opposed to how it is currently used. I am in favour of minority governments and coalitions. My understanding is that this tends to be the result of having some form of proportional representation and/or vote re-distribution system, as distinct from our existing system.
DeleteI refuse to vote for a certain reason.
ReplyDeleteAnyways I see Harpur as a adversary or enemy of Canadians and French Canadians.
Yet trudea is more of a enemy and the other is too.
anyways as long as the supreme court rules the nation the contract of the people with a government is broken. its all illegal all ready.
On top of this there is so much injustice of importance.
Canada , at the moment, is in distress just like America.
Yes, yes ... we all know what you think. Canada is just like America because we're all descendants of Americans from Puritan New England.
ReplyDeleteYou know what? I don't care what you think about history, or about science. You are so wrong about everything that you're not making any significant contribution to the discussion on this blog.
This is your first warning.
Re Larry Moran
ReplyDeleteI am afraid that Booby Byer's lucubrations have now entered the Wolfgang Pauli world of incoherency as to not even be wrong.