A blog to give a voice to our concern about the continued erosion of our democratic processes not only within the House of Commons and within our electoral system but also throughout our society. Here you will find articles about the current problems within our parliamentary democracy, about actions both good and bad by our elected representatives, about possible solutions, opinions and debate about the state of democracy in Canada, and about our roles/responsibilities as democratic citizens. We invite your thoughtful and polite comments upon our posts and ask those who wish to post longer articles or share ideas on this subject to submit them for inclusion as a guest post.
Contact us at democracyunderfire@gmail.com

Sunday, September 15, 2019

The ABC Dilemma ….again

As 'be counted' day approaches each of us of voting age must decide which 'party' to vote for, yes I know we do not vote for the party but for an individual who 'represents' (or more correctly is a member of) said political party. Lets face it the whole idea that we are voting for an individual is becoming more and more of a farce each time an election comes around be it federal or provincial, the 'party' the 'leader' and the back room boys of said party have all the power and for the most part our individual MPs have very little influence in what is said and done in their name by that inner group.

Cynical you say, perhaps so but when we see 'leaders' (of all stripes) dictating who and who cannot run under their banner even after the local Electoral District Association has selected and endorsed a candidate, when even the smallest long past comment is grounds for 'the party' rejecting a candidates ability to run under their banner, then perhaps my initial thoughts above are not so far wrong. Let he who is without fault cast the first stone is perhaps the appropriate comment here!

This leaves those of us who intend to vote on Oct 21st in a bit of a dilemma, do we vote for that local candidate who we like and trust but who has little chance of getting elected, do we vote for the 'next best' candidate who has a better chance 'representing us'? Do we vote for an individual we dislike and distrust but whose party is our preferred choice of government or do we vote to reduce the chances of a party we don't want to see in power from having one more MP in the house and possibly gaining power.

This latter choice is then where the heading for this piece comes from ABC ….. Anyone But Conservative ….. Long time readers will know that this blog was originally started to highlight and document the previous conservative government of Stephen Harper attacks on our democracy. Whilst I have attempted to highlight issues that jeopardise our democracy by any and all partys I cannot help but say that I still think that the conservative mind set as evidenced by the Frord regime here in Ontario is the greatest danger to it. That Scheer seems to want nothing to do with his Ontario counterpart kinda says it all in my mind, there may be a bit of a divide between provincial and federal politics but I see little difference in the ideological beliefs of the various leaders or would be leaders.

In May of this year I wrote “Frankly the thought of Ford in control of our province scares the living shit out of me, I am firmly convinced that he will do and say anything to gain power, nothing he says can be taken at face value.......” That assessment has been proven to be correct and I can but hope that we don't get to see if indeed Mr Scneer is cut from the same cloth!

I still don't know if I will be voting for my local candidate, the party of choice (both Green at this point) or strategically to stop the Frord want to be. Stay tuned.......





Support Democracy - Recommend this Post at Progressive Bloggers

6 comments:

Lorne said...

Your post reflects the dilemma many people feel, Rural. In the past, I have voted strategically, more often than not while holding my nose. I have decided that for this election, because time is growing short for the world, I will vote according to what is the most serious issue we face, climate change. Therefore, the Green Party, the only one that takes the crisis seriously, is my choice.

Rural said...

Unfortunately First Past The Post make such choices more difficult than they need to be Lorne!

Owen Gray said...

I would like to vote Green, Rural. But, in our neck of the woods a Green parliamentarian looks, at this point, like a long shot. So the question I face is, "In a minority government - -where the Greens have clout -- what is the best option?" Scheer doesn't appear to be it.

Rural said...

I'm thinking much the same way Owen, a minority government may be the best we can hope for IF (and thats a big if) those elected can learnt to compromise and drop the highly partisan BS.

Brian Dundas said...

Exactly. If Green has a shot in your neck if the woods, have at 'er, I say. But where I live the Marboro Man is polling higher and the Cons are both the historic default and incumbent.
I would have to be a nihilistic suicide bomber to flush my vote when I do have a chance at turning this riding anything but blue.
Seems to me, it's a riding by riding ethical decision. And yes, it sucks!

Rural said...

I think that sums it up exactly Brian!