I didn't think it would succeed, but Jack Layton has managed to pull a liberal upset. He has officially overtaken Ignatieff and the Liberal Party as the official opposition, according to the polls, and his support is growing. According to the polls I just checked, NDP is at 33%, Harper is at 37%, and the Liberals are down to 19%. Yesterday, it was NDP at 30%, Harper at 38%, and Liberals at 20%. Amazing.
I for one support the platforms of both the NDP and the Green Party. However, I vote NDP because a) they are comprehensive, organized, and they are who I'd like to see in power, and b) because they have more of an influence than the Green Party does yet. The NDP platform basically has everything I want to see. Some of the initiatives that would encourage sustainability could go farther, like they do in the Green Party platform. But in terms of economics, reforms, healthcare, etc., the NDP have the right idea. An excellent article on the NDP and their policies is this one, from the CBC.
However, as if there weren't enough good reasons to vote NDP, there's now an excellent reason to vote NDP if we want to oust Harper; that is STRATEGIC VOTING! (I thought I'd never see this day).
If we can get as many people as possible to defect over to the NDP, if we're lucky, we could even end up with an NDP government!
Removing Harper from power is imperative. Here's some more good reasons:
http://www.conservative.ca/policy/platform_2011/
http://federalelectionblog.ca/2011/04/27/harpers-attack-on-democracy-itemized-by-lawrence-martin/
http://puzzledcat.blogspot.com/2011/04/harper-blows-it-and-dipper-layton-leads.html
http://www.torontosun.com/comment/columnists/warren_kinsella/2011/04/15/18012231.html
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/opinions/opinion/smoke-mirrors-and-a-harper-majority/article1960537/
http://thetyee.ca/News/2011/04/27/CarsonOilSands/
http://peacefulseeds.blogspot.com/2011/04/fact-that-conservative-partys.html
http://peacefulseeds.blogspot.com/2011/04/there-is-canadian-election-going-on.html
Now, we have a fighting chance. In order to oust Harper, an NDP minority would actually be the most preferable thing. While there is alot of vote swapping going on, amongst people trying to maximize the impact of their vote, the surge in NDP support indicates that more people have newfound faith in that party. Strategic voting would then mean throwing all of our support behind this party in order to seriously challenge Harper. Harper is looking like he's not going to get that majority government, though he's fucking close. Re-election of the Conservative Party should be stopped. Strategic voting generally works when people are trying to stop something, and are united in their opposition to a party or a policy. Harper likely won't get a majority, since 33% NDP, 19% Liberal, 6% Bloc Quebecois, and 4% Green adds up to 62% of the population that doesn't support the Conservatives. I am currently in Quebec, and it's fairly safe to say that the support for the Bloc, the NDP, and the Liberals very much outweighs the support for the Conservatives here. Which makes me concerned for the rest of Canada. I want to see a Federal Government that is anything but a Conservative government. If we really want to oust Harper, and I certainly do, then I think we have a fair shot if we vote strategically for the party that has the best chance of defeating Harper. For once, it's actually the NDP instead of the Liberals. The Liberals have a good platform, however, I think that it doesn't go far enough. Ignatieff has flip-flopped on the Climate and the Tar Sands issues. In this case, the situation of voting strategically for the Liberals because they are the only ones who can defeat the Conservatives has been reversed. It's the same logic, but now the NDP are the ones who can defeat Harper. I therefor encourage all Canadians who care about their country and democracy to go out and vote, and vote NDP (though of course, it's up to you, people).
A good site to help vote strategically is Catch 22 Campaign. It can help identify certain target ridings to help vote strategically. The poll that really matters is election day. If we can deny the Harper Government even a minority re-election, than AWESOME. However, we do need more defectors to the NDP.
I envision an election where enough people can get behind Jack Layton so that we can pull a REAL upset, and vote in either a minority NDP government, or at least a coalition government. Anything but the Conservatives.
Think about it.
However, as if there weren't enough good reasons to vote NDP, there's now an excellent reason to vote NDP if we want to oust Harper; that is STRATEGIC VOTING! (I thought I'd never see this day).
If we can get as many people as possible to defect over to the NDP, if we're lucky, we could even end up with an NDP government!
Removing Harper from power is imperative. Here's some more good reasons:
http://www.conservative.ca/policy/platform_2011/
http://federalelectionblog.ca/2011/04/27/harpers-attack-on-democracy-itemized-by-lawrence-martin/
http://puzzledcat.blogspot.com/2011/04/harper-blows-it-and-dipper-layton-leads.html
http://www.torontosun.com/comment/columnists/warren_kinsella/2011/04/15/18012231.html
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/opinions/opinion/smoke-mirrors-and-a-harper-majority/article1960537/
http://thetyee.ca/News/2011/04/27/CarsonOilSands/
http://peacefulseeds.blogspot.com/2011/04/fact-that-conservative-partys.html
http://peacefulseeds.blogspot.com/2011/04/there-is-canadian-election-going-on.html
Now, we have a fighting chance. In order to oust Harper, an NDP minority would actually be the most preferable thing. While there is alot of vote swapping going on, amongst people trying to maximize the impact of their vote, the surge in NDP support indicates that more people have newfound faith in that party. Strategic voting would then mean throwing all of our support behind this party in order to seriously challenge Harper. Harper is looking like he's not going to get that majority government, though he's fucking close. Re-election of the Conservative Party should be stopped. Strategic voting generally works when people are trying to stop something, and are united in their opposition to a party or a policy. Harper likely won't get a majority, since 33% NDP, 19% Liberal, 6% Bloc Quebecois, and 4% Green adds up to 62% of the population that doesn't support the Conservatives. I am currently in Quebec, and it's fairly safe to say that the support for the Bloc, the NDP, and the Liberals very much outweighs the support for the Conservatives here. Which makes me concerned for the rest of Canada. I want to see a Federal Government that is anything but a Conservative government. If we really want to oust Harper, and I certainly do, then I think we have a fair shot if we vote strategically for the party that has the best chance of defeating Harper. For once, it's actually the NDP instead of the Liberals. The Liberals have a good platform, however, I think that it doesn't go far enough. Ignatieff has flip-flopped on the Climate and the Tar Sands issues. In this case, the situation of voting strategically for the Liberals because they are the only ones who can defeat the Conservatives has been reversed. It's the same logic, but now the NDP are the ones who can defeat Harper. I therefor encourage all Canadians who care about their country and democracy to go out and vote, and vote NDP (though of course, it's up to you, people).
A good site to help vote strategically is Catch 22 Campaign. It can help identify certain target ridings to help vote strategically. The poll that really matters is election day. If we can deny the Harper Government even a minority re-election, than AWESOME. However, we do need more defectors to the NDP.
I envision an election where enough people can get behind Jack Layton so that we can pull a REAL upset, and vote in either a minority NDP government, or at least a coalition government. Anything but the Conservatives.
Think about it.
No comments:
Post a Comment