Canadian vote day

[Sukunai]

I am NOT here to discuss the politics.

But I voted.

And to all those in the usual 40ish % range that don't vote, STFU you have no opinion if you refuse to vote. Those of us who actually DID vote when we could, are the only ones deserving of an opinion after the results come in.

My choice was not an easy one.

I hate the leader of one party, the party itself regardless of the leader in another case, and in one case the one party has a leader that's an idiot. That left me two choices, and one of them most be an independent, because they show up on a ballot, but I've never actually heard of them (and I won't vote for a group that can't even afford to pay for signs to announce they exist).

So that left me with a party I don't actually hate (just not crazy about), and their leader is even recognized as an alright person. If you are Canadian you might even be able to identify the person.

I normally vote for the party and go with it. This time I voted for the leader as that person will be the one doing all the talking in Parliament anyway.

Tonight I get to find out how badly I lost. I am already aware my choice isn't actually going to win.

[Otohiko]

And to all those in the usual 40ish % range that don't vote, STFU you have no opinion if you refuse to vote.

No, you STFU.

Who did I have to choose from again?

Let me say why I didn't vote:

Conservatives are out by default always. I'll be dead before I vote for the Conservatives, although I might go easier on them if they don't so thoroughly try to suck off the Americans. It's with them in power that, ironically, I feel Canadian cultural sovereignty is most threatened.

I voted Liberal once just to counter the conservatives, but later came to the conclusion that they were only marginally better and I disagreed with them on at least 60% of issues. Never again.

The NDP I voted for a couple of times, especially provincially because our one-time MPP Peter Kormos was quite a good guy whom my family knew personally and who definitely worked hard and helped a lot at the community level. Not that I agreed with the platform. NDP is closest to me politically, but I find a lot of their policies to be half-measures from either a socialist or a liberal-democratic point of view. They support failed/failing immigration and welfare policies. On the other hand I welcome their efforts on healthcare and education. And I support proportional representation, which is mostly why I voted for them nationally before.

However the main reason I outright refuse to vote for either of the three above parties this time is their position on the Georgia conflict. Not because they condemned Russia - Russia should have been condemned by all means. Russia was wrong. But because all three of these parties openly supported war criminal Mikhail Saakashvili and now my tax dollars are going to give aid right into the hands of a nationalist government that had initiated a massed attack on a civilian area using BM-21 Grad rocket artillery. Sorry, no. I outright refuse to vote in anyone who takes a favourable position on something like this. They can and should go suck America's dick. Oh wait, that's why they did this.

Now for the smaller ones...

Bloc Quebecois. Do I even need to comment?

Green. I've voted for them before. I won't again. I find them politically and economically naive, and while left enough and concerned for the environment enough - too mired in trivial social issues to ever effect anything of socioeconomic relevance. They haven't even tried. I like the fact that they raise a ruckus about some issues like proportional representation, but beyond that it's all triviality and naivete.

Communists/Marxist-Leninists. After the last election when I was really pissed at Canadian politics, I seriously thought of joining the CCP. Then I read more of their stuff and listened to their leaders. Ridiculous. As above, they're mired in very poorly-led activism and minor social agendas. There's hardly a trace of interest in the real, massive socioeconomic issues which the socialist agenda has to be founded on and which I am most concerned about over everything else in the country. Meanwhile, what we have here is a bunch of ineffectual, inarticulate, pseudo-intellectual wankers. No thanks.

Net result? If I had to choose between THAT or else STFU, I say take your "choice" and shove it. I'm not voting for garbage. And I'm better-suited to survive even the most unfavourable regime from my perspective than anything this election could seriously threaten. So to hell with that.

[Sukunai]

So what you are saying, is you would rather defacto vote in a minority Conservative or minority government by default then?

Your even dumber than you sound as a result.

STFU your opinion has less established worth than my non political opinions have to this board evidently.

You do realize that you are defacto being labeled a Conservative voter. You did nothing to make anything else happen.

[The Origonal Head Hunter]

Tonight I get to find out how badly I lost. I am already aware my choice isn't actually going to win.

You did nothing to make anything else happen.

Mr. Pot, meet Mr. Kettle.

What is worse, voting for a sure-loser or not voting at all?

[Otohiko]

Tonight I get to find out how badly I lost. I am already aware my choice isn't actually going to win.

You did nothing to make anything else happen.

Mr. Pot, meet Mr. Kettle.

What is worse, voting for a sure-loser or not voting at all?

Also, again, you hadn't addressed my primary question (which, I apologize - I may have hidden under a layer of bitterness that on the topic I have trouble hiding)... Who do I vote for? What is "anything else"? You think I'd be jumping for joy if NDP or even CCP got voted in? Oh joy indeed...

This "something else" is merely a choice I don't want a part of. I've been through this before. This is called Perestroika mentality.

I don't think the Conservatives are evil, or conversely, good, so it doesn't make any sense for me to vote for a 'lesser evil' here. All the political parties have either disappointed or outright upset my political values.

I know what it's like to vote in pointless elections, trust me. My parents in Russia were Yabloko (the last remaining liberal-democratic party) voters. They were hopeless, of course, and are now in fact completely unrepresented in the Russian parliament, but at least they remained true to their platform to the end and had retained values myself or my family would've been inclined to respect. If I were a Russian citizen, I'd still be voting for them, and there's bigger problems in Russia's 'democratic' system than Canadians could ever dream of. On the other hand, I ominously see many antecedents in Canadian socioeconomics and politics that could lead to a similar situation. But that doesn't matter to me - if there is noone I can respect to honour my values here, they aren't getting my mandate voluntarily. I realize they are getting it implictly - well, tough. I refuse to be complicit and put my signature on something I don't believe in. I have other ways to make a difference in Canadian public life that are a lot more meaningful and ethical from my point of view than voting. Instead of affiliating myself with a party platform, I can selectively support the promotion of things I believe in on a cause-by-cause basis. More importantly, I can be an honest citizen.

As for the state, it's ethically bankrupt to me. Fortunately, these things are far from permanent.

[Nessephanie]

It's my day off work, I'm too lazy to actually leave my house to vote :x
(It's actually more that I don't follow politics so my vote would be a shot in the dark, which I don't agree with. I'd rather not vote, then vote blindly.)

[purplepolecat]

I just got back from voting.

The way I see it, whether you vote or not you WILL be stuck with one party or the other, so you may as well try to influence the process. People act as if by refusing to vote, they are making a strong statement about the choices the system is giving them; however the message they are sending to Ottawa is "don't listen to my opinion, I don't count". Don't marginalise yourself just because you hold marginal opinions.

On the other hand, I'm glad we don't have compulsory voting, as nessephanie said, it would just lead to people voting blindly.

I voted Liberal, although I think Dion is a wet noodle with no leadership qualities. Historically, on every major issue that the libs and torys have disagreed on, I've sided with the libs. I am scared of what could happen in a tory majority.

[Ghet]

theres a world outside the united states?!

CANADA HAS A GOVERNMENT?!?!

[CodeZTM]

theres a world outside the united states?!

CANADA HAS A GOVERNMENT?!?!

WAT! IMPOSSIBLE! O_O CHECK YOUR SOURCES DAMN IT!

[dokidoki]

Let me say why I didn't vote:

Just write in Cthulhu. Or Vegeta.

(It's actually more that I don't follow politics so my vote would be a shot in the dark, which I don't agree with. I'd rather not vote, then vote blindly.)

All you need to know... (for those who didn't see it on my LJ)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4hfGy_b87gI