Election babble
Nov. 29th, 2005 09:32 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
selenaySo apparently the government has fallen and I'm voting again - the Canadian government, that is :-) My voting kit will probably arrive around Christmas time and then I have the agony of making a choice. And, unlike my constituency in good old Blighty, this vote will actually count for something.
Terrifying.
Over here, it doesn't matter what I vote - my constituency always returns a Tory candidate. I'm voting for a swing seat over in Canada and it shifted from NDP to Liberal in the last election. I much prefer the NDP policies, but I'm worried that a Conservative government will undo the good things that the Liberals have done, particularly the gay marriage thing that isn't quite finished in Parliament yet (to my knowledge). There are enough couples who have married since the court order, but Steven Harper has stated that he'll work to overturn that. I'll be moving to Canada in 2008 (I hope) so there are good odds that whoever is voted in now will still be in power when I emigrate.
Other the other hand, I don't like the idea of voting to keep a party that I don't like out. It seems like a negative way to choose my vote.
It's weird, scary and disturbing to actually be casting a vote that will count for something. I've never had to do it before.
If I were actually there on the 23rd, I could joining the family Election Night party. Darn my wrong-side-of-the-Atlanticness.
Terrifying.
Over here, it doesn't matter what I vote - my constituency always returns a Tory candidate. I'm voting for a swing seat over in Canada and it shifted from NDP to Liberal in the last election. I much prefer the NDP policies, but I'm worried that a Conservative government will undo the good things that the Liberals have done, particularly the gay marriage thing that isn't quite finished in Parliament yet (to my knowledge). There are enough couples who have married since the court order, but Steven Harper has stated that he'll work to overturn that. I'll be moving to Canada in 2008 (I hope) so there are good odds that whoever is voted in now will still be in power when I emigrate.
Other the other hand, I don't like the idea of voting to keep a party that I don't like out. It seems like a negative way to choose my vote.
It's weird, scary and disturbing to actually be casting a vote that will count for something. I've never had to do it before.
If I were actually there on the 23rd, I could joining the family Election Night party. Darn my wrong-side-of-the-Atlanticness.
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no subject
Date: 2005-11-29 09:55 pm (UTC)Anyhow, good you for planning to vote in absentia. My main concern is that people VOTE, regardless of whom it's for.
It's going to be a more-than-usually obnoxious holiday season here, what with all the politicking. Bah.
no subject
Date: 2005-12-03 05:21 pm (UTC)*nods* Me too. I have to rely on the headlines from CBC and one of the local newspapers for my area, but even that limited exposure terrifies me. It's why I'm feeling conflicted - if I vote NDP and my seat goes NDP, but the government ends up Conservative by a small margin, I'll feel awful because I could have done something to prevent it (in a small way, admittedly). OTOH, if I vote Liberal and the they get in anyway by a margin but my seat stays Liberal, it will feel rather like voting back here in Britain.
I hate negative voting - I want to vote for a party that I acually like and respect - but it's difficult to decide. As I said, my vote here doesn't count for beans so I've never had to make a voting decision that could actually affect the outcome in any way.
My main concern is that people VOTE, regardless of whom it's for.
Ditto. I'm a big fan of the democratic process and I can never understand why anyone wouldn't vote. It can affect so much about the country you live in - I only have to look at the USA to see that.
It's going to be a more-than-usually obnoxious holiday season here, what with all the politicking. Bah.
Bleh. Yeah. That does suck. At least over here, the politicians take Christmas Day off. Although we do get to laugh at the party leaders' choice of official Christmas cards *g*
no subject
Date: 2005-11-30 12:25 am (UTC)Have you seen the rate at which we collapse governments here? I wouldn't call it a good chance, per se...
no subject
Date: 2005-12-03 05:22 pm (UTC)Heh, there's time for at least two more elections before I finally move over!