Unpopular Dissent

It is only fitting that my first political diatribe, during a time of two concurrent elections in both Canada in the United States, should be about elections. Specifically, I will be addressing my own personal conundrum: to vote or not to vote. I have been particularly bothered by the actions of all four Canadian political parties, especially my former favourites, the NDP.

To vote means that I am giving my voice of consent to whichever party receives that vote. There are many personal ramifications for this decision, especially given that I tend to disagree with all the parties on at least one aspect of their platform. The Conservatives would certainly not get my vote, as I find them the most abhorrent excuse for human beings out of all the political parties.

Stephen Harper is a fucking snake. Unfortunately for the other parties, he’s also incredibly good at playing the game that Canadian politics has become, and his supporters buy into everything he says. For example, his excuse for calling the election (illegally according to his own fixed laws, I should add), was that he felt that he lost the confidence of the house. For those of you reading this that may not be familiar with the Canadian parliamentary system, in order to lose the confidence of the house, you must be a minority government, put forth a piece of legislation warranting the label of a “confidence motion,” and be defeated on that motion. There’s nothing to be felt about it. Harper held a meeting with the other party leaders, who were rightfully critical of his policies, and he attempted to scapegoat his strategic calling of this election (the country has just narrowly avoided going into a recession) on the other party leaders, saying he felt that he had lost their confidence. Way to falsely place blame the election on the other parties, douchebag.

So while the Conservatives most definitely are not getting my vote for an infinite number of reasons, the aforementioned being just one of them, I’d prefer not to vote for the Liberals either. I’ve never been a fan of moderate policies, especially given my opinion of the status quo. Plus my issue with Stephane Dion, while he is incredibly intelligent and seems to be a good guy, is that the Liberal Party does not seem to have recovered from its sponsorship scandal injuries suffered in Quebec. He also just doesn’t seem to be particularly incredible “leadership material.” The Liberal Party is in serious need of a charismatic, Trudeau-esque leader, in order to restore its standard place at the centre of Canadian gradualism and centrism.

As for the NDP, well, Jack Layton just pisses me off. I can’t count the number of e-mails I’ve received form the NDP soliciting me for money. I do understand that they really do need financing for their activities and campaigning. Due to the fall in the number of unions and unionised workers throughout Canada, much of the NDP’s financial support has disappeared. I understand. Really, I do. But what doesn’t particularly help their case is that I only ever hear Jack Layton whining about how the official opposition (the Liberal Party) doesn’t offer effective opposition, and that the NDP should be given a chance. Rather than helping the Liberals by forming a coalition, Jack Layton stands there and accuses them for the very same reasons Stephen Harper blamed the other parties for the supposed “fall” of his government: he didn’t want to be perceived as even partially responsible for the calling of an election that the electorate didn’t want to have. He wanted to gain the high ground going into the campaigning process of being able to blame the Liberal Party and gain more support for himself. If you ask me, that’s pretty conniving.

The Green Party are relatively new on the scene, and I know very little about them, except that they are primarily a pragmatic, special interest party that wants to increase awareness of ecological issues. Elizabeth May seems like an intelligent woman, but that’s not enough to win my vote. I love the idea of special interest parties, as they are able to specialise on a specific area of research and focus enough to actually come up with innovative solutions and ways to implement them. However, without a system of proportional representation, the Greens, quite frankly, don’t stand a chance. Their support is rising with each passing election, but I have a feeling that the Liberal’s new green policies will sway those Green party voters not just issuing a protest vote. (Avnish over at “Straight Outta Edmonton” has a more advanced theory on this)

To not vote at all, on the other hand, is my silent acquiescence; I legitimise the outcome of the election by choosing not to vote. If the Conservatives were to win a majority, for example, I would feel partially responsible for their victory by not doing my part to try to make sure that didn’t happen. I’m not a fan of the brokerage parties that try to encompass every aspect of governance within their political platform, and the NDP seems to be slowly moving towards becoming one of those parties. I feel that my opinions are not represented by any of my choices, and yet I feel that some of my choices are better than others.

So, on October 14th, regardless of whether or not I choose to go the polls, I will be voting for an outcome I can’t agree with.