Quote:
Originally Posted by redforever
I think what is coming out of this whole escapade, fiasco, whatever you wish to call it, is this.
Most Canadians, under any circumstances, do not want the Bloc to have any Executive powers in the country of Canada.
And the coalition can call themselves NDP/Liberal coalition all they want, fact of the matter is that coalitiion does not exist without the Bloc backing them. If this were a coalition of strictly NDP and Liberals, I do not believe there would be this outcry from the citizens of this country.
Now my take on the matter is some of this could be avoided if Canadian voters would start to vote more strategically. Well first of all, I should say, if they would just plain vote!!!
By voting strategically I mean, not just for the political flavor of the day or for a special interest group.
And at this point in time, Canada presents itself with two major mainstream parties, who are both a bit right of center and one that is definitely left of center. I am not inlcuding the Bloc in this equation because they only run candidates in the province of Quebec and I myself do not look at them as a National Party.
What do I mean by voting strategically? For instance, take the Green party, which has grown somewhat in its support. Now most of us are concerned about the environment, some of course much more than others.
Each of the mainstream parties in Canada has a platform regarding the environment. So you as a voter have a choice to make. Do you wish to vote for a party that enshrines all of your environmental concerns but at the end of the day ends up end up with 0 MP's in Ottawa? Or do you want to go through the other parties platforms and find one that has environmental initiatives close enough to yours that you could live with.
Remember that rarely in life will you get everything you ask for and that for sure is the case in politics. So as a strategic voter, you are going to have to do some compromising or end up with the current situation in Ottawa or one that will escalate the more fractured we become.
Right now, the citizens of Canada are saying, we don't want this. But those same citizens are going to have to find a way to vote to prevent it in the future.
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I disagree with your statement that we have two mainstream parties that are a bit right of center. I think the Liberals are a bit left of center and moving further from the center every day.... and this situation will be further exacerbated (sp?) if Dion remains the leader very much longer or if Bob Rae becomes their new leader.
For me the perfect situation would be to have all party members vote the way they wish to, on all votes.... assuming that the way they wish to reflects the views of the constituency. I think the position of party whip should be abolished. Party members should not be forced to vote the party line unless they are voting on something that was stated as a party position during the election campaign.
As for strategic voters.... I have no respect for them. Vote for someone or something you believe in... not the other way around.