On May 2, 2011 Canada will hold it’s 41st democratic election. This comes after the Conservative government was struck down on a vote of non-confidence on March 25.
To begin, we want to make it clear that the Ontarion is aware of how cliché and repetitive this is about to sound. But it’s for your health that we bring you these crucial words: VOTE! VOTE! VOTE!
Here’s why. For the past few years, a lot of complaining has been done about the Conservative government and their approach to leadership, both within our country and on an international field. We at the Ontarion are with all of those who dislike the current government. But those who are pissed off with Harper especially need to take action. Last year, voter turnout for citizens age 18-24 was 37 per cent. The percentage of eligible voters who actually go to the polls literally increases with every age group, meaning only one thing: young people aren’t doing their part.
The frustrating thing is that if young people did vote, we would undoubtedly change the outcome of the election. Instead, a specific demographic tends to determine who governs our country. People with established careers and homes will often vote Conservative, looking for a government that poses the least possibility for change and will keep their money safe.
But many of us don’t vote for the same reasons as these people. We vote whole-heartedly with our feelings and frustrations not just in our own lives, but also within the larger context of the world. If we want to change anything for the better, the Conservative government has shown they are not the party to do it with. Among Harper’s fine moments as Prime Minister, we’ve seen him and his crew dismantle the Canadian census, try to privatize media, expand the Tar Sands, pour billions of dollars into the mess that was the G20, and give the green light to corporations who pollute the most, just to name a few. The Conservatives have shown little to no willingness to act on climate change, and actually embarrassed the country at the 2009 UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, resulting in international hoaxing by the infamous “Yes Men,” and many a magazine article badmouthing our nation. Our international image as a country that stands up for social and environmental justice has profoundly changed, and it all started only a few years ago.
This is a crucial time in our history. Lot’s of talk has been made about this generation having to make radical changes to the way they see and live in the world if we’re to survive in a healthy way for generations to come. If the Conservative government has shown anything, it’s their stubbornness in making healthy changes that don’t involve immediate economic growth. But the money tree isn’t the only one we need to be saving.
We urge you to do anything you can to ensure we don’t have another Conservative government, and there are a couple of ways you can do this.
One option is to vote strategically. This is a realistic method of voting for anyone who wants to see a government that isn’t Conservative. In the last election, the Conservatives won with 37 per cent of the popular vote. That is not a large number, but the problem was that everyone else’s votes were divided and with a first-past-the-post voting system votes don’t materialize into seats based on the proportion of voters. Strategic voting involves voting for the party with the best chance of winning. Right now the Public Opinion Polls have the Liberals with 27 per cent popularity, NDP with 20, and the Green party with 8. If those people voting Green party and just a fraction of those voting NDP were to vote Liberal, we could be successful in ousting out the Conservatives.
The next option is just as important to consider. Please people, vote for anything BUT the Conservative Party (known as the ABC strategy). Options include the NDP, the Green Party, the Bloc Quebecois and the Liberals. Other parties do exist but these are the most prominent ones and the only ones likely to win any seats in most areas of the country. They all have more socially and environmentally respectable platforms, and in many other ways reflect the interests of our population more accurately. If enough youth turn up to the polls and vow to vote ABC, we have a good chance in causing a shift in power.
For the future of our country, our families, our environment and our livelihoods, let’s do whatever we can do to say goodbye to Harper. It all starts by voting.
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