Sigh...
Sigh...so the election is over, and I guess the results are no surprise to anyone, at least not me but I'm still disappointed anyways. What can you do? I cast my vote the same as the other 65% of us, it mattered in my local riding, but we still have a Conservative victory to contend with. I don't know if any of you guys see it but sometimes it feels to me like the right-wing is gaining strength, and this honestly frightens me.Truthfully the election and the results made me want to get into politics. I lay in bed thinking "Man, this isn't the future of Canada I want. Their hope isn't my hope...what if they get a majority next time?" Then during my waning moments of consciousness I resolved myself to get into politics somehow to stop this conservative spread.
Now during the light of day and after my eye exam I'm not so sure that I really want to get into politics, but it was an exciting few hours.
Also, I'd like to send my sincere condolences to my old riding in Winnipeg - “Kildonan-St. Paul”, sorry to see that you guys got stuck with the big C again, but you did vote her in by a pretty heavy margin...
Also in other news Mario Lemieux is going to retire.
posted by selsine at 11:17 AM
8 Comments:
dammit... why won't anyone jump on the Green Party wagon with me.
Everyone is stupid but me
January 24, 2006 1:13 PM
I agree with Mista Z.... go green or go home. I am happy to see Dylan feels the hippy enviromentalist love, too, from his comment on another post (even if he did back the Conservatives in the election). Give them time. The Greens are starting to make some noise. I did hope that they would get enough of the popular vote (8 or 10%, i think) to get back 60% of their campaign expenses...which they didn't. Nationally, the final number 4.5% with 665,940 votes. One seat would have been nice. I don't know if they even came in as a close second anywhere. I guess they'll just try again in 12 or 18 months when the pundits say this gov't will fall.
And I agree with mark - dissapointment but not surprise. I am not sure that the rightwing is gaining strength (at least in the way it was/is happening in the US). I think that this is a reaction to the liberals who people don't feel they can trust so they want a change. I don't have a feeling that there is a huge shift in values. Rather, people see the Conservatives as more or less the same as the Liberals (Tweedle Dee vs Tweedle Dum) so they are going for the other more-or-less centrist party (although we no longer have the reform to syphon off the radical right so they are included in the current Conservatives) - and the low number of seats will mean that the Conservatives will have to keep to the centre to get anything done or risk pissing off the pinkos who they need to support them. it will be interesting to see what concessions that the Conservatives (and the other parties) are willing to make. The one thing that i wonder about is the Conservatives in Quebec - I think that there is some interesting implications from the bloc losing seats to the Harper-ites.
heh. i can see the 'vote selsine' tshirts now.
January 24, 2006 2:53 PM
Impeach Mruss...'n "hell ya" to RGSC.
But there is something to be said when the Greens struggle but a Franco Shock-Jock gets a seat... WTF.
January 24, 2006 10:14 PM
why can't people accept it is not the end of the world! provinces will become more powerful- they control our schools, employment legislation and health care.
it's a minority gov, too. there will be no fucking with the charter. and last i checked there were mp's from the liberal and ndp that were opposed to same sex marriage and/or a women's right to choose, and also mp's from the conservatives that were not.
and Rod, i think that each vote is worth 75 cents. so the green party should be able to buy some unbleached toilet paper and fair trade hackey sacks. i think jimmy is confused on what green (you're thinking cannabis party) stands for, but if they ever want to govern, they need to be seen as more than just an enviromental party and really make some noise with financial matters. they should join the conservatives.
January 25, 2006 9:25 AM
As far as I understand it it's $1.75 per vote that the parties get.
Yeah at least it's a minority government, should help keep them in check. A lot of people are saying that a lot of the votes for the C's were votes against the Liberal's rather then votes for the C's. I mean I guess one can hope that it was that, but why didn't those people at least vote for a lefty party...sigh.
Yeah Dyl, you are right about the mp thing, that lady up in churchill even left the NDP over the Same Sex marriage issues. The big difference in my opinion is that the same sex marriage issue and the abortion issue are wider party views. You can be an NDP MP and be againt abortion but you are a minority in the party. You can also be a C MP and be pro-same sex marriage, but you are a minority in the party. That's a big difference to me.
Actually I was thinking of shirts that said: 'Vote for Mark "Selsine" Mruss', that way when I'm an MP I can have a nickname.
One of the problems with the Greens in my riding is that I never even got any literature from the candidate at all. Now I know that one of the things that the Greens do is attempt to run candidates in all ridings to get more overall votes and things like that, but I think they could have gotten more votes had they actually sent out flyers or something. Actually it was the NDP and the Liberals that hasseled us the most, phone calls and door knocks trying to get us on their sides.
So when I run for the Greens it'll be different...way different.
It's not surprising that the shock-jock dude won really, it's a shame but it's not a surprise. It's kinda like Hal Anderson being number 34 on CBC's greatest Canadian list...
January 25, 2006 10:16 AM
Read this hippies:
Although well known for its environmental side, the Green party has many other planks in its platform, and is not as left leaning as many people assume. In fact, some of their fiscal policy borrows more from conservative economics than socialism.
From:
http://www.cbc.ca/canadavotes/leadersparties/cheatsheet.html
So think about this, if the Greens did get a seat they would probably side with the C's on some issues.
Adam.
January 25, 2006 12:20 PM
And from the same article as above:
"Leader Jim Harris is a businessman and former member of the Progressive Conservative Party"
From what I see the Greens are further right than the Liberals.
I am not a Conservative regularily but I supported them. I think that the L's need a break and a new leader (which they will have for the election in 14 months).
Adam.
January 25, 2006 12:29 PM
The greens state that they are neither left nor right. While they are socially progressive they are, as adam points our, fiscally conservative.
Mark is right - each vote is worth $1.75 which = $1,165,395 for this election.
January 25, 2006 12:55 PM
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