Two related matters today.
First, Prime Minister Harper is making a big fuss about needing a majority government. So are the Central Canadian media. I ask, what’s the matter with a minority government?
Think what the Harper government did without a majority and ask yourself what’s so good about a majority 5 year dictatorship? Why don’t the media examine what is right about a minority government.
In fact there is one extremely good thing – the government is forced to consult with other leaders both on the budget and general legislation. On the budget, the Minister of Finance can’t walk into the Chamber and say “like it or lump it – after the usual fandango and ritual speeches we, the government, are going to cram it up your…surely I need go no further.” How is that bad?
It’s the same thing with legislation and policy – there must be consultation.
It’s said that a minority government must always kiss the backside of the opposition – that is palpable nonsense. In reality minority parties while able to vote down the government rarely do. They usually are out of serious money for campaigning and don’t want an election where the government can, as here, bleat that they couldn’t get their legislation through – legislation that would end the nation’s woes and bring happiness to all.
The media claims that all the House of Commons does is bicker. But surely to God that’s what they’re supposed to do. It’s a passionate place because there blood is spilled figuratively rather than literally.
In my opinion a minority government, while far from perfect, is the best of possible results – especially for British Columbia, which needs political clout.
Let’s look at what BC needs.
Of course we have the needs of the rest of the country – health, jobs, better social policy and so on – but every party wants this, with none of them likely any better than the other.
We have a province that has growing concerns about the environment and giveaways that are features of both Victoria and Ottawa.
The Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) are in bed with the fish farmers as memoranda leaked to the Cohen Commission clearly show. The Tories clearly support foreign corporations slaughtering our salmon in the interests of shareholders in Norway.
The Harper government supports the debasing of our environment so that large companies can make power we don’t need, that BC Hydro cannot use but is committed by contract to take and lose money on – all to the profit once more of foreign shareholders. In fact the federal government has helped fund Plutonic Power, which is General Electric in drag.
The Harper government supports the Enbridge pipeline from the Tar Sands to Kitimat and also supports huge oil tankers taking this sludge down our coast – arguably the most treacherous coastline in the world.
What can we do about this? What can we do to ensure that if Harper forms another government we in BC will be able to rely upon a strongly built opposition to see that parliament hears our concerns?
The issue before us is a stark one: do we support the party of our usual choice and the toady they have as their candidate or do we vote strategically so as to ensure our province has clout in Ottawa?
Strategic voting means supporting the best opposition candidate and vote for him/her even though in better times you wouldn’t.
We British Columbians have three areas of concern which, if badly dealt with, will kill off our wild fisheries, bankrupt our public Hydro corporation and ensure that oil spills on land and sea will damage our province beyond repair.
The Conservative government would allow, indeed encourage these catastrophes. These environmental outrages are not the bleeding heart sort supported by flower children in days of yore – in fact they are at the very core of our way of life.
If we do not commit ourselves to fighting for the province, who will? I personally look at my nine grandchildren and my great granddaughter and conclude that this destruction can’t happen on my watch – at least not without me giving everything I have to the fight.
Let’s all join as British Columbians to send a message to Ottawa that will at least be heard in the House of Commons.
If we do that, we’re in with a chance.
If we don’t, thank God we won’t be still alive when future generations of British Columbians will look back at us with the scorn we so justly earned
There are 18 ridings in BC where a strong strategic vote can swing them all away from the Conservatives.
That alone would be enough to dash Stephen Harper’s hopes of a majority regardless what the rest of the country does.
That list of 18 is here:
http://bit.ly/ihqIo1
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Two more opinions:
1. Why does the NDP have a candidate on the ballot in Vancouver South? They thought that Dosanjh was a good enough person to be the Premier of BC for a while. He won a VERY close race last time. This seems to be an obvious place to cast a strategic Liberal vote.
2. I ran against Joyce Murray in the 2001 and 2005 provincial elections, but if I lived in Vancouver Quadra, I would be voting for her. You heard it here first.
I agree with Arno. The NDP isn’t going to win Vancouver Centre. Jennifer Clarke for the Cons? I don’t think so, although it’s hardly surprising that the Sun and Province would say otherwise.
Hedy Fry has done a lot of good for herself as an MP. She had the job for a long time, and I think that Adriane Carr has paid enough dues to deserve a shot.
Arno, you may be right about Elizabeth – for once in a blue moon. Still a long shot, but conceivable to be sure. So to would-be NDP and Liberal voters in the Saanich-Gulf Islands riding, it’s worth considering voting strategically for the Greens. But that’s the only riding in the entire country where I think that’s true…Still, to have one green in Ottawa would be – at least symbolically – something significant.
First of all, I would argue that strategic voting is a way of getting the second worst government since you don’t want the worst one to get in. I would like to deliver the strongest possible – namely that I am fed up with all the old parties – by voting Green. If you don’t vote for what you want, you will never get it. I am also pushing for a better voting system so that my vote will really count.
I particularly encourage voters living in Vancouver Centre and Saanich and the Islands to vote Green. Both Adriane Carr and Elizabeth May have a good chance of winning these ridings. Imagine having 2 Green MPs in parliament. This will be Harpers worst nightmare!
Yes to avoid the nightmare of a Harper majority, it is important to think strategically – but it is also necessary to exercise appropriate caution. In the past, strategic voting mainly has been a tactic pushed by the Libs as a way to scare NDPers into voting for them. But this time around, the dynamics are very different — the NDP are surging and the numbers may be very much in play and results from last time may not be very indicative of what is going to happen this time around. So an appropriate degree of caution is warranted when deciding whether to vote switch your vote to a second choice candidate to stymie a truly horrible third. As a general rule, I would say that where the NDP and Liberal candidates are fairly close vote NDP, but NDPers should only switch to Liberal when it’s very clear that their candidate is a distant third.