It’s election time, and all of us are prone to hyperbole, but what we’re about to write next is really, really, important.
If you only do one thing this election (besides vote), do this:
Tell everyone you know about this website:
voteforenvironment.ca
It is an interactive site that uses current polls, and previous election results, to allow each Canadian to research how to best use their vote to defeat Stephen Harper depending on what riding they live in.
A tool like this completely transforms the concept of strategic voting. Each riding has its own math, and each voter has their own decision making process within those mathematics. This is not Buzz Hargrove telling supporters to vote for a single party that may not be competitive against Conservatives in many ridings, and may rob progressives of legitimate seats in others.
The brilliance of the site is that it allows each of us to see the numbers their vote will become a part of and make an informed decision. With a divided coalition of centre-left parties, the outcome of the election may depend on how popular this site becomes. We will repeat, to be super clear that what you read was not a typo:
The outcome of the election may depend on how popular this site becomes.
You can impact the election by increasing this website’s profile. Personalized emails are best, but if you need to cut and paste, work with this:
___________________________________________________________________________________________
Dear Friends, Family, and Co-Workers,
I am writing to you to let you know about a new website that has been launched with much fanfare this week:
voteforenvironment.ca
It allows Canadians to explore the math behind the neighborhood they reside, and make an informed decision about how to vote to defeat the Conservative candidate where they live.
Thanks for taking the time to read my mass email. I wouldn’t have sent it if it wasn’t incredibly important. Please forward this site to your contacts if you find it useful and are terrified of the consequences of a Stephen Harper majority government.
Sincerely,
Me
One Comment
I might not feel quite as cheated at the prospect of a conservative majority with less than half the votes if what we would be getting was true conservatism. Instead, it is part of a wave of toxic pseudo-conservatism that is sweeping through North America. This brand of conservatism distorts the often necessary self-disciplining, belt-tightening fundamentals of conservative philosophy, and applies them against traditional conservative values related to family, community, personal liberty and even economic well-being. It seems to be a war against everything, and a vision towards nothing.
In the Canadian context, here are a few of the well-known facts to back up that assessment:
An anti-arts and culture agenda, despite the importance of this sector to the Canadian economy
The government has made devastating cuts to federal support for the arts and culture, the most recent of which (in August) amounted to almost $45 million and included cancellation of the Trade Routes program, which had a mandate to assist with export in the sector. Arts and culture is not only a key contributing sector in the Canadian economy, it is a critical basis for developing and maintaining civilizing ties with the rest of the world. Creative interchange through arts and culture supports mutual understanding and appreciation, while also reinforcing a sense of identity that is rooted in place and history. An exclusive focus on economic and security interests as a basis for international relations is as likely to translate into hostile brinksmanship as cooperation.
An ineffective US-style approach to reducing drug problems, crime and terrorism
Although the “war on . . .” approach may give some satisfaction to the vengeful side of human nature, the evidence is clear – it doesn’t work and it imposes huge economic and social costs, with the US having the dubious distinction of the world’s highest per capita rate of incarceration. And ironically, the conservative decision to prevent the decriminalization of marijuana moves us a step further back from being able to choke off a huge source of income for organized crime.
A “fossilized” agenda in relation to energy and associated climate change
Few things have so tarnished Canada’s once-solid international reputation as our backtracking – and worse the efforts to undermine international progress – on commitments to address climate change. It seems that this government doesn’t want to entertain any form of multilateralism that might curtail its generosity to the oil and gas sector. This despite the fact that many credible organizations — including the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, comprised of 30 of the world’s leading democratic countries — has called on the federal government to end preferential tax treatment to this sector, for both economic and environmental reasons.
The industry has rebranded the tar sands as oil sands, but the original name is more apt given that mining them is an ugly and dangerous mess. What more evidence do we need to seriously invest in a different approach to energy than the fact that it takes the equivalent of a barrel of oil to extract 4 barrels from the tar sands. (This compared to a 17 to 1 ratio for conventional oil.) How much further will we go in undermining the beauty and integrity of earth’s ecosystems to scrape energy resources from the “bottom of the barrel”?
Aversion to the use of fiscal measures to achieve environmental and social ends
What could be more in line with conservative ideology than to ensure the proper functioning of the economic system through more accurate price signals? One of the most important instruments available to the federal government to make sure that environmental costs are better “internalized” is the tax system. Yet the Harper conservatives have launched an unprincipled attack on what is widely regarded as one of the most economically efficient ways to move the marketplace towards more environmentally appropriate forms of energy — a carbon tax. Shifting taxes away from labour and onto consumption can also have environmental benefits; but against the opinion of many leading economists, the conservatives reduced the GST.
A conservative majority in Canada also has troubling implications beyond our borders. It is conceivable that what happens here will have some spill-over effect in the US election, regardless of how politically irrelevant to that great nation we generally seem to be. And the political outcomes of these two elections is a defining moment not just in Canada and the US, but in terms of our relationships and influence with the rest of the world.
I hope it isn’t long before the grass roots of the Conservative Party start finding their way back to what conservatism really means. For now, as regrettable as it is, voting strategically in key ridings is clearly going to be key to ensuring the current Cons don’t win a majority.