As a citizen I enjoy some aspects of our electoral system. I’ve voted freely, supporting candidates that seemed to have something to say, knowing, until recently, that with every vote a little party funding was earned. This kept important voices, near the political margins, present in the conversation. You don’t have to win in order to have some impact. I liked that.
There was a place for voting with your conscience. I guess there still is, but it seems fraught with more peril now. Look at what happened in the last federal election.
There was a time when good governance was more important than winning at all costs. Bumbling or shady elected officials would actually resign when found guilty some kind of misconduct that hurt the process of governance.
Today we are increasingly tyrannized by false majorities and politicians most interested in themselves, their own ideologies, and re-election - at all costs. The 39 per cent of the popular vote won by the Conservative Party of Canada, or the 40.5 per cent won by the Yukon Party in the last election cycles are not majorities. The majority of us voted for change.
Now, for most of those same citizens, change is the most important outcome. For success, our collective vote must not be split.
In the last federal election we lost a good hardworking MP when Larry Bagnell was defeated. If change is paramount, then we need to ask, amongst other things, “Who has the best chance to defeat Ryan Leef?” Probably Larry. That doesn’t mean that we should give him a free pass. Ask him how the Liberal party will reverse some of the damage done by Stephen Harper. What will they do about climate change? Will they support national parks every year, and not just in election years? Will they put government scientists that monitor environmental changes back to work?
If Larry can do a credible job with questions like this, and I think he can, then let’s support him! We need him.
Territorially, we have had one of the most inept and belligerent governments that I’ve ever seen. All members of the opposition have worked pretty hard to make the Yukon Party Government accountable. Still, the NDP has the most sitting members in opposition and the most experience. And, they have been persistently present at public forums, learning about environmental protection, alternative energy, the perils of fracking and many other important issues. As such, they have the best chance of defeating the Yukon Party and providing good governance. So let’s support Liz Hanson and her team.
Please consider strategic voting until we can achieve some kind of electoral reform. It would be a sad irony if the same candidate (Green to Liberal Party switcheroo) that gave us Ryan Leef also gave us another term with Darrell Pasloski. Think about it.
Bob Jickling
Whitehorse