Canadian Politics

[Nurvingiel]

Alright Canucks, today the Liberals lost a non-confidence vote 133 to 171. The full story is here.

The election will probably be in mid-January. You have the chance to vote for:

• The Bloc Québécois
• The Conservative Party
• The Green Party
• The Liberal Party
• The NDP

Plus an assortment of small parties. However, these five parties are more or less nation-wide.

Do you know who you are going to vote for? Any ideas? Is there anyone you are definitely going to (or not going to) vote for? If so, why?

There are three ways to vote in this country: by party, by candidate, or by leader (and possible PM). You can also spoil your ballot or refuse to vote if you don't like any candidates. (Unfortunately, abstention is not an option on the ballot.)

Which method or combination of methods do you use and why? I am tending towards voting for the party and leader, because it's a lot easier to do reasearch, and I'm thinking more big picture this election. (At the same time, I won't cast my vote for a useless candidate.)

So far I've narrowed down my possible parties that I might vote for. After, I'll eliminate leaders, and if there's still more than one party left, I'll go by candidate.

Already eliminated are:

• The Bloc Québécois - do not have candidates in BC
• The Conservatives - I really wish the old PC was around for me to elect, but sadly, we're stuck with these guys. They are off my list because they are anti gay marriage, and I trust Stephen Harper about as far as I can throw a piano.
• The Green Party - As much as this pains me, I can't vote for the Green Party. I really wanted to, until I read their current policy on forestry. They propose to ban clearcuts. This would be disasterous to BC forestry, and not much better for any other provinces, with the possible exception of the Maritimes. This policy is, as far as I can tell, not based on science*. They also have some rubbish about GMO trees on their site. I'd like to point out that the only country that plants GMO trees is China, so I don't know why the Canadian Green party is wasting their, and my, time.

*There are certainly a number of situations when it's not appropriate to have a clearcut. However, clearcuts are completely appropriate and sustainable in a number of common harvesting situations. I'm quite convinced the Green Party knows jack all about any of this.

I'm sorry for my ranting about the Green Party. I just really wanted to vote for them.

Parties who could still get my vote:

• The Liberals - I like Paul Martin. I think he's intelligent and competant. The Liberals aren't perfect, but they do know how to run a government. However, I have not forgotten the hideous Sponsorship Scandal. The Gomery Report doesn't implicate Paul Martin AFAIK, but I sure do! He was the freaking finance minister. That is the biggest strike against the Liberals in my opinion. They get points for being the government to legalize gay marriage.
• The NDP - I think Jack Layton is a classy guy, and I appreciate his support for gay marriage. I also like the fact that he doesn't just open his mouth to change feet (I'm looking at you Stephen Harper). One thing that might stop me from voting for the NDP is that thing with unions. I need to learn more about this, and I can't access the NDP Constitution without being a member of their site. This "thing" I'm talking about is how I think some union executives automatically have decision-making power in the party. If that's true, I couldn't vote for them. That's just not democracy. I also think unions have too much power in Canada.

So, I'm down to those two parties. I need to research the forestry policies of the NDP and the Liberals to make sure they aren't horrendous like the Green Party's.

What are the important issues for you in this election? Besides forestry, gay marriage, transportation, education, and NAFTA, I will be paying close attention to mud-slinging in this election. If people don't conduct themselves like adults I doubt I'm going to vote for them.

Let's get exciting about voting! You don't have to be a Canuck to join in the election discussion in this thread. This is the Moot, all are welcome.

[Edit: Originally called "Canadian Election: January 2006", but now the election is over, and we've started talking about politics.]