I live in uber-Conservative central Alberta, work in the natural resource sector and I'm going to do something today that I would have never imagined myself doing - I'm going to vote NDP.
This was a decision for which the process started roughly a year ago. For the first time, I found myself in a position where impending, controversial legislation was going to have a large negative impact on my life. For the first time I found myself contacting the Members of Parliament in my province looking for some explanation as to why this was happening.
It's nice to feel that democracy gives every citizen a voice but it becomes discouraging to find out how easy it is to go unheard when you finally have a reason to start screaming. I made some 20 calls, wrote some 20 letters and got a single response - from the leader of the NDP.
I disagree on a number of policies outlined in the NDP's platform, but what has become most important to me as I get older is voting for someone who actually gives a shit. And I don't think anyone can accuse the NDP of not giving a shit. The same cannot be said for the other parties and the other leaders.
I've followed the election closely and looked for any reason to cast a more traditional vote. Naturally, I haven't found one.
Hmm, at this rate Layton might just snatch Official opposition out of Iggy's hands. I'd have no problem with that, but that still means Conservative will be in power with (most likely) another Minority government. Another election in 2 years, more money wasted...
And somehow, my dad manages to find a way to blame it all on the Bloc.
The Block , NDP and Liberals should just put their feelings aside and make a coalition which would keep people in check and change who makes propositions and such.
On May 02 2011 23:44 57 Corvette wrote: Hmm, at this rate Layton might just snatch Official opposition out of Iggy's hands. I'd have no problem with that, but that still means Conservative will be in power with (most likely) another Minority government. Another election in 2 years, more money wasted...
And somehow, my dad manages to find a way to blame it all on the Bloc.
Its because the bloc is a provincial party that somehow has federal representation and quebec has so many seats that more often than not when you have a minority government it comes down to what the bloc wants when passing bills and supporting budgets ect.
Green party -900,000 votes --- 0 Seats
Bloc - 1,200,000 Votes - 50 seats.
Thats why alot of people have a problem with them. They essentially demand conscessions for quebec from any government, and then when the gov't refuses they try to form a coalition or join the official opposition in trying to prevent anything from going through.
On May 02 2011 23:50 Freaky[x] wrote: The Block , NDP and Liberals should just put their feelings aside and make a coalition which would keep people in check and change who makes propositions and such.
The Bloc doesn't even seem to care about canadian politics outside of Quebec, so I seriously doubt they would form a coalition without forcing the other parties to do whatever they say.
They are the trolls of Canadian politics (not including joke parties like the Lemon party)
First Past the Post needs to go. We need a movement towards more proportional representation with regards to the popular vote, something the Conservatives have not mentioned doing at all (the NDP has though!)
For example, despite having nearly twice the popular vote of the Bloc, the NDP still has less seats in parliament. This simply does not make sense..
That said, I voted Green. In my riding they beat out the NDP for third last election, following the Liberals and Conservatives. My riding is generally a Liberal riding amidst a sea of Conservative ridings surrounding the area, and last election was very close. That said, the Conservative candidate here is not much more than hot air. He's missed the majority of the public debates, and when he does show up it's clear that he's totally out of touch with the younger generation.
I'm pretty sure the Liberals will win my riding, but if enough young people actually vote it is *possible* a Green could get through. Probably won't happen. But I'm fairly sure that our incumbent Liberal MP does listen to the voices of the people in our constituency, I've sent a number of emails to him and always received a response so for that I'm grateful. He has a tendency to vote against the party line in parliament if it serves our interests as well.
This is the first time in a long time Canadians have a real choice on government. Not just Lib/ Conc. Its pretty bad that has only been 2 for so long (pretty much ever). I hope NDP wins they deserve the chance. I can see concervatives winning again though . .. Even with the Contempt
On May 02 2011 23:44 57 Corvette wrote: Hmm, at this rate Layton might just snatch Official opposition out of Iggy's hands. I'd have no problem with that, but that still means Conservative will be in power with (most likely) another Minority government. Another election in 2 years, more money wasted...
And somehow, my dad manages to find a way to blame it all on the Bloc.
Its because the bloc is a provincial party that somehow has federal representation and quebec has so many seats that more often than not when you have a minority government it comes down to what the bloc wants when passing bills and supporting budgets ect.
Green party -900,000 votes --- 0 Seats
Bloc - 1,200,000 Votes - 50 seats.
Thats why alot of people have a problem with them. They essentially demand conscessions for quebec from any government, and then when the gov't refuses they try to form a coalition or join the official opposition in trying to prevent anything from going through.
I wouldn't blame the party, I'd blame the system that allows such unproportional representation.
On May 03 2011 00:24 mprs wrote: hey quick question,
which party will lead us to an internet promise land? need to figure out who i wanna vote for
Myrna Clark Barrie NDP Federal Candidate I recently pledged to support open, competitive, and affordable Internet access for all Canadians. The NDP outlined a vision for Canada’s future in a Digital Future Survey circulated to all political parties by OpenMedia.ca. The Internet is elemental to our economy, jobs and social progress. See our response here! Party Responses to Digital Future Survey | OpenMedia.ca openmedia.ca
Thats on my Riding's FB page seems like NDP supports better internet the most and a lot of our ISPs r horrible
On May 03 2011 00:00 Freak705 wrote: First Past the Post needs to go. We need a movement towards more proportional representation with regards to the popular vote, something the Conservatives have not mentioned doing at all (the NDP has though!)
The problem is that the country is not represented proportionately at all by population. The population of Ontario alone is 13 million, nearly half of the country (total of 30 million). A party could as such, run solely based on a pro-Ontario and Quebec platform and win by majority votes, because those two provinces provide the majority of the country's population. In theory, a platform designed to ignore every other province would still win by a majority ruling that follow the popular vote.
If we allowed for provinces to be represented equally, there would be a sway in the opposite direction, where a platform focusing solely on socio-economic issues that effect a larger percentage of individual provinces (fishing laws for the maritimes, agriculture/oil/things pertaining to the prairies) would appeal to more provinces and get more seats, even though those changes/platforms may not benefit the majority of the population, of whom do not earn their means in such a fashion (ie tax breaks/government subsidies to the natural resource/agricultural fields)
The third option would be to allow a system where overall votes are divided up amongst the population, where more seats of the overall national percentage are allotted to ridings where the actual population lives- exactly following a proportional representation of the wants of the population, since there will be a number of seats proportionate to the actual number of people per region. Therefore, in theory, each location and seat is in fact an actual proportional representation of the population as a whole.Wait, this is exactly what he have.
The problem is not in the system, but rather that more than half the country lives in Ontario/Quebec, and as such the needs/concerns of the majority of people will not and never match the needs/concerns of the majority of provinces. More than half the country could vote for a party that ignores more than half the provinces. The Bloc will always act in the interest of Quebec solely, and due to the proportional representation of the population in Quebec:Canada they will represent a stopgap measure towards politics that ever aim to benefit Canada as a whole. Tax breaks (as an example) to fishing and boating benefits the maritime provinces, which is (maaaybe) a 1/6th of Canada's population. Why would the rest of the country vote for a party to support that, if it takes away some platform that hit closer to home? They wouldn't, and here we are.
My solution? It's time to equally populate Manitoba and Saskatchewan.... *tumbleweed*
On May 02 2011 23:37 Flaccid wrote: I made some 20 calls, wrote some 20 letters and got a single response - from the leader of the NDP.
100% That letter is just the same generic garbage that they send to everyone. He was obviously too busy in the "massage parlour" to send anything himself.
OK who should i vote for? I'm 18 so this will be my first vote and my dad expects me to vote but have no clue who to vote for... I don't wanna vote randomly HMMMM
On May 02 2011 23:37 Flaccid wrote: I made some 20 calls, wrote some 20 letters and got a single response - from the leader of the NDP.
100% That letter is just the same generic garbage that they send to everyone. He was obviously too busy in the "massage parlour" to send anything himself.
I lol'd at the massage parlour story, because that kind of stuff only gets dug out of police archives by politicians who are a) really scared they're gonna lose and b) friends with corrupt cops.
EPT
