As BC readers know, we’re electing a new provincial government on May 12. I confess my general ignorance about provincial politics. I don’t have that much attention to give to politics generally, and I usually exhaust that on federal and international issues. Combine that with our having been recently out of the country for a year, and I have very few opinions about who to vote for next week. I’m a little ashamed of that, but what’re you going to do?
So here’s your opportunity to convince me to vote for your party of choice. I’m not particularly interested in opposition-bashing. I’d prefer to hear about platforms, policies and initiatives that align with your values and vision for the province.
I have a slight bias against the NDP (I’m not a fan of unions) and for the Green Party, but neither seem overwhelming in this case.
Leave a comment and fire away. If you’re disinclined to comment, here’s a poll:
I don’t actually guarantee that I’ll vote for who wins the poll, but I thought it’d be fun to take your temperature nonetheless.
I voted today. Unfortunately, I’m going to be in the US on October 14. I voted for the Green Party, as I have done so in the last two (maybe three?) elections. For pretty much the same reasons. I have no expectation that my candidate will win, but I believe in supporting the party whose values most closely align with my own.
When voting, how much consideration do you give to your local candidate and how much do you give to the national party? I’ve asked this question before, and some thoughtful discussion resulted. Four years later, I can’t think of a good reason not to ask it again.
As I indicated, my choice skews heavily toward the party. Why?
I care more about national policy than local issues. I’m totally ambivalent about how my MP represents Victoria in Ottawa.
It’s kind of by default. I lived in Vancouver for many years. Can I describe even one of Hedy Fry’s accomplishments as my MP? Can you? I’m no political news junkie, but I think I’ve been as informed and well-read as the average Vancouverite over the past decade. It’s much easier for me to identify with a national party that holds particular values and positions, as opposed to my local MP whose accomplishments and goals I can’t imagine.
My perception of the party leader–of their competency and character–matters as well. Less than the party, but more than the local candidate.
How about you? Do you vote for the candidate or the party?
UPDATE: On a vaguely-related note, somebody sent me this video featuring local Vancouver candidates talking about their parties’ platforms on climate change.
As you may have heard, everybody involved in the federal leadership debates did a flip-flop, and agreed to include Green Party leader Elizabeth May in the debate. The rationales seem, well, peculiar:
Layton, who faced protesters at an Ontario campaign event on Wednesday, conceded the issue had become a “distraction,” and said he did not want to continue “debating about the debate” until the election. “I have only one condition for this debate, and that is that the prime minister is there, because I want to debate the issues with him,” Layton said.
Kory Teneycke, Harper’s director of communications, confirmed Harper had also changed his mind, telling reporters that while the Conservatives still objected to May’s participation on principle, he would no longer oppose May’s inclusion. “We don’t think she should be there, but if the NDP have decided they’re changing their position, we will not stand alone,” he said. In an interview with CBC News, Tory campaign co-chairman David Emerson said the reversal was a case of the prime minister “reacting to changing circumstances.”
May says that “tens of thousands of Canadians came to her defence, with some staging protests or telephoning the TV networks in charge of the debates”. Really? What evidence was there of a protest of this scope? I joined a Facebook group (that was the vast extent of my public dissent), and it only has 209 members. Ah, hang on, clearly I joined the wrong group. This one has 6007 members, which is pretty good for being only a few days old.
Still, you’ve got to hand it to Mr. Layton and Prime Minister Harper–way to have the courage of your convictions.
On a related note, the UBC School of Journalism created NetPrimeMinister.ca, a Netvibes-powered aggregator of social media news and commentary about the election. They asked for my feedback, so my main complaint would be the lack of RSS feeds. Obviously Netvibes doesn’t want you to consume information that way, but it’s too bad that we can’t grab, say, a mega-feed for the entire site. Then you could filter it for mentions of your local candidate, a particular issue like ‘net neutrality’ or whatever.
The prime minister will declare that, after having met with all three opposition leaders over the last few days, he no longer has the confidence of Parliament, the sources said. As per tradition, it will then be up to Jean to decide whether to dissolve Parliament and set the election date.
I must register to vote here in Victoria.
In other news, the Green Party, in a rather backhanded fashion, acquired its first Member of Parliament. MP for the West Vancouver-Sunshine Coast-Sea to Sky Country Blair Wilson got bounced from the Liberals last year:
Green party Leader Elizabeth May introduced Wilson at a news conference Saturday morning in Ottawa, just a week after he approached the party.
“It felt like coming home,” Wilson said Saturday.
I know very little about him, but I’ve heard some fairly unflattering things about Blair Wilson. Regardless, I’m hopeful that this means that the Greens will get a voice in the TV debates in the upcoming election. They were denied by the broadcasters in the past because they’d never had a sitting MP.
I observed to somebody over the weekend that, in the event that the Green Party leader gets to participate in the debate, it’d be a bit of a pity. Elizabeth May strikes me as kind of a nerd. But, then, looking at our current crop of party leaders, they’re a pretty nerdy bunch.
In sharp contrast, that American election just gets more and more fascinating. It’s the best reality TV I’ve seen in years.
