Monday, March 28, 2011

Why I support the Greens but vote otherwise

I am a big Green supporter and believe they have the best platform. Dagnammit, I joined the party and contribute a few bucks to show that I care. But I also live in Quebec (and on the island of Montreal) and my local candidate both:
a) is a relative lightweight, and
b) has no hope of winning, but might garner enough votes to keep my second choice from winning.

Hopefully most of the other GPC supporters aren't in a similar bind. But I frankly prefer to return Justin Trudeau to his seat than to help get a (yawn) Bloq Québecois elected by uselessly splitting the federalist vote.

There is a bigger picture here. The last few years showed us that keeping Harper to a minority government does not preclude his screwing with everything the majority of Canadians hold dear, including the use of the Senate to thwart the will of the House on partisan grounds. He'll do it again. And again. Right now, we need a Liberal government, imperfect as it may be, to stave off the loss of our country's most cherished shared values.

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3 comments:

LC said...

In my case, I am likely to vote Green because I am in Duceppe's riding and frankly nothing is going to stop him winning.

Of course, this just brings up the serious problems inherent in first-past-the-post.

But yes, right now, tactical voting is pretty much our only option.

LC said...

I think the commenting program ate my comment.

I agree that tactical voting is pretty much our only option right now, thanks to first-past-the-post.

In my case, it's not even an issue as I am in Duceppe's riding. That being the case, Green is my likely choice to try and boost their overall Federal credibility.

Simon said...

hi Scott...I understand why you support the Greens, and why a lot of my friends support them too.
But I agree with you, if you are a progressive in this election you just have to vote smart. As you point out even a Harper minority is to awful to contemplate. And the more progressives we elect, the stronger will be the coalition that sends the Cons packing...