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Admiral Beez said:
Minorities never work. We'd have another election within 18 months. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_minority_governments_in_Canada
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Not quite, some are quite productive - though they were at a different time (Federally). It is hard for individual voters to chose a minority government as a desired outcome, much less guarantee what comes out at the other end will be productive.

What I do want to see is less regionalism in our Federal parties and politics - the pendulum has swung way, way too far "for the provinces".

AoD
 
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Admiral Beez said:
Even if we had proportional representation or ranked ballots, you'd still get majority governments with limited support. It's a Westminster parliamentary system, you vote for your MP, not the PM.

IMO, we have a great country. In the last year I've been to Germany, Austria, Holland, Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan, China (Shanghai + Hong Kong), South Korea and like most Canadians to the USA (Seattle, San Francisco and Alaska). Before that I was in Israel, Croatia, Czech Republic, Slovenia and the UK. Canada isn't perfect, but every time I come home I thank my lucky stars for living here.
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There are a number of countries on your list that I'd rather live in.
 
This is why I don't like any of my choices:

nationalpost.com

John Ivison: Timely book warns that Canada's democracy is threatened by political abuse

Political power is no longer located in Parliament, political parties, Cabinet or the bureaucracy. It is held by the PM, his advisers, lobbyists and the rich
nationalpost.com nationalpost.com

I have not read the book so am taking Ivison's column at face value. The people we get to elect are simply potted plants to be watered and pruned by the unelected boys and girls in short pants in the PMO, regardless of who's name is on the door.

I'm not sure what I'll do; perhaps refuse my ballot, although the last time I did that I threw the nice old folks volunteering at the polling station into a complete tizzy.
 
lenaitch said:
This is why I don't like any of my choices:

nationalpost.com

John Ivison: Timely book warns that Canada's democracy is threatened by political abuse

Political power is no longer located in Parliament, political parties, Cabinet or the bureaucracy. It is held by the PM, his advisers, lobbyists and the rich
nationalpost.com nationalpost.com

I have not read the book so am taking Ivison's column at face value. The people we get to elect are simply potted plants to be watered and pruned by the unelected boys and girls in short pants in the PMO, regardless of who's name is on the door.

I'm not sure what I'll do; perhaps refuse my ballot, although the last time I did that I threw the nice old folks volunteering at the polling station into a complete tizzy.
Click to expand...

Does refusing your ballot actually make positive change any more likely?

I'd be skeptical.

Even so far as our political system has become somewhat tainted; I would suggest its an important duty of citizenship to pick the least bad/most palatable option to you, even if the difference from one option to the next is less substantive than you might hope.

From there, one must advocate for change. Its insufficient, I would contend, to complain and be non-naive about the challenges of making change. Its certainly possible to make some change, and its certainly
better to actively try to achieve the best, than passively accept less than that.

Just my opinion though.
 
Northern Light said:
Does refusing your ballot actually make positive change any more likely?

I'd be skeptical.

Even so far as our political system has become somewhat tainted; I would suggest its an important duty of citizenship to pick the least bad/most palatable option to you, even if the difference from one option to the next is less substantive than you might hope.

From there, one must advocate for change. Its insufficient, I would contend, to complain and be non-naive about the challenges of making change. Its certainly possible to make some change, and its certainly
better to actively try to achieve the best, than passively accept less than that.

Just my opinion though.
Click to expand...

Fair points, and I'm as yet undecided. Refusing a ballot is fairly unambiguous, as opposed to spoiling a ballot which could be a result of any number of reasons. It's sort of a 'none of the above' choice.
 
lenaitch said:
Fair points, and I'm as yet undecided. Refusing a ballot is fairly unambiguous, as opposed to spoiling a ballot which could be a result of any number of reasons. It's sort of a 'none of the above' choice.
Click to expand...

I think you are expecting too much from your vote as a singular exercise of political power that will change things - and not enough on the need to actually engage the day-in/out of the political process at the party/grassroots level. The rinse-repeat cycle of government switching hands is meaningless when the pathway to power through party politics itself basically selects for centralization regardless of your party (i.e. disciplinarians with a tight hold on messaging, power tend to end up leading the party).

AoD
 
BurlOak said:
Harper was excellent at working with others and formed the 2 longest minorities in Canadian history.
I agree that we will never have as great a leader in our lifetimes - so <18 months is a reasonable guess.
Click to expand...

I should have thought it impossible for you to agree with a point no one made; most particularly the person you were ostensibly quoting/replying to.

But once again, you prove that the impossible isn't merely possible w/you, its to be expected.
 
www.thestar.com

NDP candidate in B.C. resigns and apologizes for telling energy journalist that he would ‘like to break his jaw’

Dock Currie is the second NDP candidate to step down in the B.C. riding of Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo, as the NDP tries to fill its deficit of candidates in the early days of the election campaign.
www.thestar.com www.thestar.com

Bozo eruption!

globalnews.ca

Green Party candidate resigns over post about mailing pig carcass to Muslims - National | Globalnews.ca

The resignation comes after a Canadian Muslim group called for the Greens to dump Schomann as a candidate.
globalnews.ca globalnews.ca
 
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AlvinofDiaspar said:
I think you are expecting too much from your vote as a singular exercise of political power that will change things - and not enough on the need to actually engage the day-in/out of the political process at the party/grassroots level. The rinse-repeat cycle of government switching hands is meaningless when the pathway to power through party politics itself basically selects for centralization regardless of your party (i.e. disciplinarians with a tight hold on messaging, power tend to end up leading the party).

AoD
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Oh, I'm under no delusion surrounding the impact of a singular act of defiance or compliance. I'm not in a position to charge any windmills, except perhaps to bend the ear of any party workers who show up at my door (which I think has happened once). I'm mostly in the hands of the younger generation, playing the role of of the angry old guy on the porch yelling at the young whippersnappers.
 
CBC News Alerts @CBCAlerts
8s
NDP accepts resignation of Montreal candidate accused of domestic abuse against a former spouse. Olivier Mathieu denies the allegations but says he is stepping down for the good of the party
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Good grief....

https://twitter.com/x/status/1172268251583320067

pressprogress.ca

‘Proud to Be White’: Conservative Candidate Resigns After Secret Anti-Immigrant Facebook Account Discovered

Conservative candidate in Manitoba shared anti-immigrant, anti-Muslim posts and declared he’s ‘proud to be white’
pressprogress.ca pressprogress.ca

A CPC candidate got in trouble for their old social media posts.
 
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Admiral Beez said:
Even if we had proportional representation or ranked ballots, you'd still get majority governments with limited support. It's a Westminster parliamentary system, you vote for your MP, not the PM.

IMO, we have a great country. In the last year I've been to Germany, Austria, Holland, Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan, China (Shanghai + Hong Kong), South Korea and like most Canadians to the USA (Seattle, San Francisco and Alaska). Before that I was in Israel, Croatia, Czech Republic, Slovenia and the UK. Canada isn't perfect, but every time I come home I thank my lucky stars for living here.
w

However lets be honest, who is the party leader decides the outcome of the election, rarely does the MP himself have an impact now.

If you had PR or Mixed Member PR wouldn't a party have to win near or around 50% of the vote to get a majority?

How is it fair that the liberals and many of their supporters who endlessly complained about how 60% of Canadians voted against Harper who had a false majority, now magically think its a good representation of democracy if Trudeau can win 35% of the vote and get a majority.
Click to expand...
 
www.citynews1130.com

PPC ousts candidate who asks Bernier to denounce racism in ranks

A candidate running for the People's Party of Canada has had his nomination revoked after he criticized racism and 'human garbage' in the party's ranks.
www.citynews1130.com www.citynews1130.com

A PPC candidate was tired of being called a Nazi, so he called on Bernier to remove racists from the party. He was removed as a candidate.


Scott Moe won't endorse anyone.
 
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