Decision 2008- Canada

It's kind of pointless to start a thread where you answer your own question.

You said you're not going to vote conservative or liberal so that leaves pretty much the NDP which represents unions and environmentalist and any other special interest they can attract.

What's left then is a bunch of marginal one dimensional useless parties who have no chance of getting elected anyway so you are ultimately throwing your vote away.

Actually I don't think it's pointless I started out saying who I wasn't going to vote for, and I was asking other people their opinions... so I don't see it as being pointless at all.

As for me stating my reasons why, well there is a thread which states what you can and cannot post as a new thread and asks to follow some rules and not to be rude or derrogatory about it, so I followed the dictum.

As for my "wasting" my vote as you so call it, I guess that depends on your views, politically. I don't think any vote I cast would be a waste.

lol That's the beauty of voting in Canada, actually. No vote seems to be a wasted vote. I remember at least one time in the last year or so where the NDP made a big difference on how a vote went. Each of the parties (other than Green, obviously) have a chance to make a real difference in government. That is NOT the case in the U.S. It's a stalemate most of the time.

The NDP keeps getting bigger every year. I think in about oh say 10 years they may be a real force to contend with. Provided civilization doesn't fall down and all that...

So you're having election tomorrow.
Here's a quick breakdown for your neighbors.

WHAT'S AT STAKE: The election is for the 308 seats in Parliament's lower House of Commons. At least 155 seats are needed to form a majority government and gain a five-year mandate.

PREVIOUS PARLIAMENT: Prime Minister Stephen Harper's Conservative Party held 127 seats, compared with 95 for Stephane Dion's Liberal Party, 48 for the Bloc Quebecois and 30 for the New Democratic Party. Independents held four seats and four were vacant.

KEY ISSUES: Global credit crisis, slowing economy and carbon tax. Harper is the first G-7 leader to face election since the credit crisis worsened. He has been hurt by his slow reaction to the market meltdown. Dion is proposing an unpopular carbon tax to fight global warming. Harper says it will hurt the economy.

VOTING: Some 23.4 million Canadians are registered to vote. Polls open in Newfoundland at 7 a.m. EDT. Results expected within the hour after the last polls close at 10 p.m. EDT.

WHY: Harper has had a tenuous hold on power since the 2006 election and has struggled to gain the opposition support he needs to pass legislation. He says the Canadian leadership needs a clear mandate at a time of economic uncertainty.

AP

Happy voting day! (sarcasm)

Friendly reminder; a vote for Harper is a vote against Canada.

Grabbing my purse, my voting card thingy they sent in the mail, and I'm off to the Polls!

Hope everyone gets out today to cast their vote

- Carrot

Well, I haven't looked at the news yet. Did it turn out like I thought? Conservative Minority, otherwise known as "Everything The Same" except for the NDP had a slight gain?

Originally posted by Malynn
lol That's the beauty of voting in Canada, actually. No vote seems to be a wasted vote. I remember at least one time in the last year or so where the NDP made a big difference on how a vote went. Each of the parties (other than Green, obviously) have a chance to make a real difference in government. That is NOT the case in the U.S. It's a stalemate most of the time.

The NDP keeps getting bigger every year. I think in about oh say 10 years they may be a real force to contend with. Provided civilization doesn't fall down and all that...

I think that's very dependent on what happens to the Liberal party in the coming months. Should the Liberals select somebody like Ignatieff as their new party leader, I can see them fighting for the center-right votes with the Conservatives, which would leave the playfield wide open for the NDP to gobble up the left. If they select a more left wing leader like Rae, then the NDP could be in some trouble and would likely have a hard time maintaining their current support.

I think Layton made a serious error in judgement in this election by not focusing his efforts on Dion. He maintained harsh criticism of Harper (understandably since the two differ significantly in most aspects), but he should have known that he had no chance of siphoning much support from the Conservatives. Had he focused on Dion, I think the NDP would likely have become the official opposition in Canada. He really could have turned a corner in this election, but he chose to focus on the wrong guy.

[edit on 19-10-2008 by bronco73]