Thursday, December 29, 2005

Canada Votes 2006

Ahh elections. The fun never ends here in Canada where we are seeing our government go through yet another election in less than 2 years. One would think that this democratic process is good for the country and in theory it is. The practice though has been proven to be not so good.

For the past 18 months, Canadians have had what could only be termed as a dysfunctional Parliament. Instead of issues being debated and decisions made, we have had question periods full of rants, insults, yelling and just generally bad behaviour that reached an all time low when Belinda Stronach crossed the floor. A group of kindergarten students could have run the country better than the last group of parliamentarians. Canadians should expect and demand more from their elected officials.

Now the time has come to make the all-important decision about who to vote for. Make no mistake; it is crucial that every single Canadian who is eligible to vote do so. We have the usual suspects running. Paul Martin as the head of the Liberal party, Stephen Harper as the head of the Conservative party, and of course Jack Layton as head of the NDP. As yet, none of the parties has come up with a sparkling platform. In fact, this first half of the campaign has been long on rhetoric and short on real issues. Healthcare, Canadian sovereignty, military spending have all featured prominently as has Gay marriage.


Canadians have shown that we are all heartily sick of dysfunctional government so all of the candidates must prove themselves worth of our consideration.

Notably, there has been much talk of strategic voting yet again in this election. My advice: Don’t. Voting strategically last time got us a dysfunctional government. This time, vote for who you want and let the chips fall where they may. There has also been talk about punitive voting. People who would normally vote Liberal but are angry about Adscam (get over it) are thinking of voting elsewhere. Fine. Just vote intelligently. That is the crux of the voting issues at hand. Canadian must decide whether or not they want a functional government. In doing so, they will be sending a strong message to our elected officials that the status quo is no longer acceptable and we are demanding more. Do not vote punitively or strategically; vote intelligently. Talk to your candidates about the issues that concern you. Make sure your voice is heard.

This election is crucial. The country can no longer operate in a state of dysfunction. When the country’s governance suffers, so do all of it’s citizens.

To not vote is possibly the worst damage you can do to this country. Canadians should be choosing who runs their country and how. We are very lucky here in Canada to be able to do so and yet so few people do. Choosing your government is not just a right; it is an obligation incumbent on all Canadians. This January, when you vote, vote intelligently.

5 Comments:

Blogger The Unsomnambulist said...

May I be so bold as to shamelessly suggest viewing a PSA I shot for last years election here in the States?
Directed by me, written by A list blogger Tony Pierce (www.busblog.com).

"Hi Res"
http://offlineadventures.com/video/Vote%20High.wmv

"Low Res"
http://offlineadventures.com/video/Vote%20256k.wmv

10:28 PM  
Blogger The Unsomnambulist said...

By the way, its called "How To Vote".

10:29 PM  
Blogger The Corporal said...

I know, the whole AdScam thing is old news. Frankly, I couldn't give a crap. I'd rather have the Liberals that that shrew Harper any day.

12:05 AM  
Blogger dabydeen said...

Well said. Democratic governments everywhere, especially in Canada, need to have independent oversight. That oversight is the voting population. It's our way of sending messages to those who profess to represent us. We can tell them what they're doing right, what they're doing wrong. To not vote is to give up your right to think for yourself -- and to complain when you don't like what the government is doing.

As for the candidates ... Harper is Satan; Martin is a court jester; and Layton ... well, I haven't pigeon-holed him as yet.

9:59 AM  
Blogger aka.alias said...

The whole entry was a wonder of concise articulation, but that last paragraph especially is worthy of a gilded frame. You are right when you say how lucky we are here in Canada to have the luxury of the vote. How incredibly sad that so many do not choose to afford themselves of this excess of riches.

3:07 PM  

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