Election Made Easy
So in my last post I offered a mentat lesson on strategic voting. It was pretty long-winded but also straightforward and a way for you to look at your riding and find a way to make your vote prevent the Conservatives from winning another election.
Then today a friend forwarded me a link to voteforenvironment.ca which makes strategic voting really simple. The site recognizes that the Conservatives have no real plan for climate change and for reducing our greenhouse gas emissions while the other parties have much more progressive policies. I've embedded their video below this post.
Essentially they are targeting certain ridings which the Conservatives only won marginally or have a chance to steal in the next election. Your riding might very well be on the list.
Hotly contested ridings (with links to their recommended voting):
The best hope is for a Liberal minority government supported by the NDP. The corporations will have less power (and the Liberals definitely love corporations) and they will have to give in to NDP demands like mandatory labeling of genetically modified food. The most important thing is that the NDP will hold them on their climate change promises. Climate change is the only thing that matters: fuck the economy! What good is an economy on a climate crazy planet?
Here is how the vote would break down if environmentally-conscious Canadians vote smart for the environment:
Conservative
Liberal
NDP
Green
Bloc
IND
Liberal
NDP
Green
Bloc
IND
97
109
46
1
53
2
109
46
1
53
2
As dirty as it feels to vote Liberal you should probably do it if it means keeping a Conservative out of power. Please spread the word to anyone you know (especially those Canadians in the hotly contested ridings).
Labels: Climate Change, Politics, Video
posted by Mentat Oom at 4:12 PM
2 Comments:
You won't find me advocating for strategic voting, for a number of reasons.
1. You might be amazed at how much good work even un-elected candidates can do when we give them our support.
2. Strategic voting, in many cases, means a vote for the Liberals. Many argue that strategic voting is needed to make up for a lack of proportional representation. I however find this a little ironic. Those most frustrated by our electoral system end up voting for a party least likely to change that system.
3. Many argue that strategic voting is needed to block the environmentally destructive Conservative agenda. However, if we are concerned about long term environmental stability, shouldn't we be looking beyond this election? Can we not think past the short-sighted goals that got us into this environmental mess in the first place?
Those concerned for the environment should, on election day, not vote against the Conservatives, but rather, vote for the party with the strongest environmental platform. And those who are frustrated with our electoral system should vote for change.
5:27 PM
Thanks for this thoughtful post. Voting for the Liberals (pro war, pro corporations, pro technology, pro lots of things that I oppose) stinks and often they are the choice of the strategic voter (though not always). But compared with the Conservatives they are the "better" choice.
I think that our electoral system is pretty sad in that roughly 60% of votes go to losers every time around. And then we have to make decisions about who is the least worse choice, not the best choice. I find it all miserable.
I'm motivated by climate change in this election. Forget the economy, we are risking our stable climate and our future which is way more important than having a job. The Conservatives don't seriously intend to do anything about climate change (20% reduction below 2006 levels?). The other parties at least take the threat seriously.
My ideal result of this election is a Liberal minority supported by the NDP. Sorry, but I'm just being realistic, most Canadians won't vote for an NDP government. In this scenario, the Liberals wouldn't be able to duck their promises because the NDP would hold them to it.
I agree that we should definitely look beyond this election when it comes to environmental issues. We have to take really dramatic steps to reverse all the damage we have done. They are more dramatic than putting up a few windmills.
I also agree that we should be voting for change but really there aren't any options on the table to change our electoral system. And people rejected it in Ontario last time around. People know we have a problem but are too scared to act; I don't know why. Maybe I should have hit the street to push proportional representation. Ultimately I don't think voting according to my heart will really lead to change. It would just give the party I voted for a few more dollars the next time around. I want change, like most people, but realistically I know it's not going to happen. So I'm going to vote strategically.
11:12 AM
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