I just finished having a conversation on Skype with my dad. He and my mother live in Helena Guergis's riding. My dad mentioned that he will be voting for the Liberal candidate. He does have a beef with Michael Ignatieff which is that Mr. Ignatieff is not going after Harper's poor economic record hard enough. My dad talked about the Mulroney years when the deficit and debt went up. He talked about the Chrétien/Martin years when the deficit was eliminated, and the debt started to decline. He mentioned how the deficit and debt started back on their inclines once Harper got into power. Ignatieff needs to vigorously attack Harper on his poor economic record.
My dad is a fairly small-c conservative guy. He would likely vote Conservative if that party could manage the country fairly well. He won't voting for Harper's Conservatives this time. As a small-c conservative guy, today was the first time that I heard my dad call Harper "a dictator." It's one thing when a middle-aged guy like me calls Harper "a dictator." It's another when my dad does the same. My dad feels that if Harper gets his majority, we Canadians will be on the road to losing our democracy. His opinions are of his own making, and not of my influence.
How will I vote? As some of you know already, I will probably not be voting unless one of the major opposition party leaders advocates for some form of proportional representation. I know that the NDP has voting reform in its platform. However, I have not heard Jack Layton mention anything about proportional representation. I want to know that Jack Layton and the NDP are serious about voting reform. So far, I don`t sense it. In my riding, I don`t have the fear that the Conservative candidate will win. The local Liberal candidate will likely be re-elected. If the NDP or another major party wants its $2.00 vote subsidy from me, then that party needs to advocate proudly for voting reform.
Fortunately for the Liberals, my dad will be voting for the local Liberal candidate in his riding.
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4 comments:
But...Jack talked about proportional representation in the English debate!
Why is your conservative dad voting for the Liberal instead of for Helena Guergis (who's running as an "Independent conservative")?
If you can tell me when in the English debate Jack Layton talked about it, it may make a difference in how I vote. I did record the English debate. Just give me an approximate time (first half or second).
My dad is not voting for Guergis because he voted with the Harper government on the opposition vote of non-confidence. While my dad is an economic Conservative, he does believe that the federal Liberals since Chrétien have managed the economy better than Harper has. My dad also mentioned that since he is very well-off (but retired) he personally benefits from Harper`s tax and economic policies, he knows that Canadians will pay for Harper`s economic mistakes in the long run. I do thank my dad for having some empathy toward other Canadians in general. That does not always mean he is empathetic toward every individual. He is a small-c conservative who is voting Liberal this time.
Hi Skinny,
well here's the twit comments from the debate
http://ca.tweetcommons.com/polis/running?q=proportional+representation
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/blogs/rabson/If-ever-the-need-was-more-clear-119785474.html
http://www.timescolonist.com/news/decision-canada/Editorial+white+guys+club/4613419/story.html
Skinny, just goggle, it was all over the news!
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/story/2011/04/10/cv-election-ndp-layton-platform.html
And they have clip there where probably he says it Skinny!
[youtube ZHHw0u6AvYw&NR=1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHHw0u6AvYw&NR=1 youtube]
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