I doubt I'll wait until May 2, but I think I will wait for the advance polls to open.  They have shuttles running here already to get out the student voters which is smart considering final exams start up next week.

I'm not impressed by any of the leaders, so I won't be voting based on them.  I decided to vote based on MP.  I hadn't made up my mind a few days ago, but a candidate forum changed that.

 I'm voting by MP. We need change.

ABC, which in my riding will probably mean Liberal although I am traditionally NDP and will no doubt return to them when (if) we get Harper out. 

Eeny, meeny, miny, mo.

I haven't voted yet but I am going to vote in the advance poll as I will be away on the 2nd of May.  I will probably base my vote this election by MP.

I'll be voting to unseat someone.  My vote will have something to do with the party most likely to accomplish that.

I am voting for the leader becasue there is only one that I can stomach.

 I am still looking for a VISION, a senese of PURPOSE.... and come sense of JUSTICE...

Obviously this " first past the post" voting won't REALLY reflect who the majority want in power, does it? Our choice has come down to two parties that many will have to "deflect" to just so we don't waste our vote. Democracy?

For many, many years I voted for the PC's (prior to merge with Reform).  However it finally came to the point that I could not reconcile my Christian faith and what I felt was what my beliefs required of me and the platform/action of the Conservatives. 

Now I tend to vote with my conscience which requires voting for a party that supports those that are most vulnerable, is environmentally conscious and governs with integrity...cms

As democratic as any other system out there that would replace it - including the beloved PR, which just results in parties going behind closed doors after the election and making all sorts of secret deals about who's going to support who - and, of course, what the price of the support is.

Etobicoke Center, my riding, is a shoo-in for the Liberal candidate so I feel ok about voting for the party I like. If it was a closer race here I would vote Liberal just to stop Harper.

????

 I attended the All Candidates panel last night to ensure that I could stomach the person that I attempted to vote in

I am definitely voting strategically  

I have been reading much on various sites regarding all the parties, again to ensure that I could stomach who we might get in

I am now focussing on two people, one that I just want to learn more about.....but, the other to verify nothing in history that would appall me  (though knowing our MP, if there was he would already have played that card).

 The prediction is a continued Conservative landslide; however, I am doing my best to say "no"

ABC = "Anything But Conservative", me thinks. Besh is expressing surprise that you're in the turf Harper crowd.

Mendalla

If you are interested in strategic voting, you can check out this site.

http://www.projectdemocracy.ca

Thank you cjms for sharing this cite.   In my riding it has confirmed who I will be voting for.  Unfortunately, I think that Conservatives stand the best chance - they have a good candidate.  Unfortunately Harper has a reputation for muzzling any 'good' guys in his party.

Ah, thanks Mendalla. Well, it was mostly from watching the debate. I got the strong sensation for perhaps for the first time that the leader of the Conservatives is an evil evil man. So prideful, so arrogant, so disdainful. Sadly, I also got the feeling that none of his oppoenents has the power to stop him. Nevertheless I believe there is merit in trying and I applaud all who are doing so.

With the latest revelation about his reason for turfing Geurgis, along with the other incidents along the way, his past deeds seem to be catching up to him.  It's too bad so many of his supporters are dominated by emotional or greed issues (though certainly not all of them).

 I joined the NDP to help a personal friend 25 years ago.

At one point I was Riding President.

I continue my support for 2 reasons. First - I have the most influence there. eg. I shared a table with Jack Layton about 3 years ago. The discussion wound around to Caledonia. I expressed the opinion that the Federal Government had done absolutely nothing to help. Jack nodded and said "I can use that". -  Last week I heard the exact same argument in a debate - word for word.

The other reason is about how the NDP run their caucus. They are invariably democratic, discussion and debate is encouraged, and decisions are reached democratically. They are not a leader - run party.

The first thing that drew my attention to Jack Layton was that he wore a Star Trek The Next Generation uniform.

The event was the 25th anniversary of Star Trek. A large number of local Toronto politicians were invited, a smaller number came. Mr. Layton went the extra mile and identified himself with the fans by wearing a suit himself.

Here was a guy who was willing to take what may have been a real risk to step down out of the political ivory tower and be counted among the people, my people.

I imagine a number of people from other groups feel the same way.

Unless you were at that University of Guelph special poll or another one like it, the first chance anyone will have to vote is the Advance Poll on Good Friday, Holy Saturday or  Easter Monday.

Hi DKS,

My understanding is that it is not at all certain that those who voted in the special poll at Moo U actually voted in a legally sanctioned polling booth.

The Conservatives are contending that those ballots not be counted.  The felt so strongly that a violation of the Elections Act was happening that a party worker attempted to seize the ballot box (proving that another wrong might make things right for your party?).  Since the Conservatives should finally be clear on what is or isn't allowed by the Elections Act they must have been warranted in taking this action.

Grace and peace to you.

John

Seems to me, RevJohn, that there are rules also about campaign spending, and maybe even cabinet ministers lying to Parliament.  The Conservaticve Party should have been aware of those rules as well, yet seemed to blithely ignore them.

MorningCalm

I really really like Jack Layton. I think he's "the best of the best" re personality and actual caring about people,  a very good speaker too. I also like Olivia.

My Lib.  MP is good. I think I'll switch from Green to Lib. this time round.

Elections Canada has politely told the Cons to take a hike.  The votes are in.

www.cbc.ca/news/politics/canadavotes2011/story/2011/04/15/cv-election-guelph-student-vote.html

Check it out, my riding featuring Harper himself:

http://www.projectdemocracy.ca/calgary-southwest

I can't NOT vote no matter how hopeless it feels. It looks like my ABC vote should go to the Liberal candidate who has the second best chance (as much as it's a snowball's chance in hell).

Welcome Young_Glass, you made me laugh out loud in another thread, thank you.

Do not reject those snowballs, this old timer has seen the "predicted" winners rousted from Parliament and only win two seats (sadly that was enough to ensure they could participate in the following televised debates) .

History can, and does, have a way of repeating itself. 

Never underestimate the power of ....

LB - one good smile deserves another

Good - we forget that in canada we vote for a party and that party may ( may not) form the government.  So when voting for an MP you are voting forTHAT party to become the govtment.  This is how it works in Canada- 

Actually we vote for a person, the one we think wouild be our best choice for MP.  SOme people make that choice on party lines true, but the ballot is for a person.  There is no spot that simply lists party names.

Like Beloved, I will be away on May 2 and will go the advanced polls next weekend. I am still unsure how I will be voting. I am an NDP supporter and live in a riding that the NDP has no hope in winning - it's a long time Liberal riding. I would like to vote NDP to add my vote to the national NDP percentage.  However, if it looks as though the Conservatives have any chance of winning in this riding I will vote Liberal, rather than NDP.

That's a bit idealistic, Gord. Many local candidates are simply hitching their carts to the party horse so there's nothing to differentiate them except party. Around here, the big parties' signs are simply the party colour with a name on it in white. The Conservative in my riding actually bothers to put her face on the larger ones and billboards, for which I commend her. This is why, in another thread, I remarked on how much I liked the Christian Heritage signs in the riding where my office is located because they feature a nice pic of the candidate with his wife and barely mention the party.

Whose fault is it that we're going down this partisan road that emphasizes party over candidate? Voters who vote by party; party bosses who exercise ever stricter control over their local MPs to keep everything on message (the Harper Conservatives and the Chretien Libs being particularly egregious examples of this); and candidates who would rather go the easy route of parroting the party line than actually do or say something to stand out.

Mendalla

David your point is not fully correct - yes we vote for the mp and they when they gather form the government.  How do they do that?  As you know it is if they belong to a caucus - a caucus is formed by those who belong to a party.  So what if the party name is not on the ballot, you know the reality is you are voting for a party when you vote for an mp  You also know the parties control the process to become a canditate.... it is the party that collects the money to run and give receipts which can be used for income tax purposes. 

To say there is no party identification does not mean you are not voting for the party.  It is false given this process to suggest that we vote for a person as if they had no party connection.  You have engaged in what is called misplace concreteness, which to take only one aspect - a simple location in a process - and make it the event.

Nit picking does not work here.  It maybe the case that parties were not the focus years ago but it is hard to find in our history how it was simply a vote for the person as the reality.  In theory it might have been.  Of ocurse in England it is the mps who elect the leader and it is the theory that the caucus elect the pm.  That theory has never been the reality in our history.  Yes a leader can lose the confidence of the caucus but again I would be hard pressed to find them throwing out the leader who was elected at the party convention - true they can do that there and that has happened.  For better or worse we need to understand how our system government actually works - party politics.  Unlike the USA where there are parties, we have stronger control of those elected - caucus gives rights and discipline ( and in light of anothe topic about discipline in the church, it is not different in kind from that)

In this riding the Conservative MP has his name in large print on the blue conservative sign (no mention of Harper).   I think he may be hoping that people will recognize his name (and the fact that he is part of a highly respected family in this area), and vote for him, even if they are not Harper supporters.  I know that's the reasoning of my close friend - who also happens to be his cousin.   She is long term conservative, but thinks the best way to muzzle Harper is to put good people in his party.

I don't agree with her.  It seems to be that Harper keeps a pretty tight reign on the members of his party, and doesn't allow much room for anyone to disagree with him or to think or speak for themselves.  

I do hope that the Liberal candidate soon revs up his campaign.  I'm only seeing a few signs with his name.  I don't hear or see anything in the media - local radio or newpaper.   And, as of yet, no door to door, or pamphlets, or other informaiton.  Yet, he is the only one that has any chance against the Conservatives.

All the party leaders seem to do that, not just Harper. When you watch the local candidate debates, as we're able to here in Toronto* on Rogers TV, you see that all the major parties have groomed their potential MPs pretty well.

_{*Canada's one and only world-class city}

Enjoying your world class SNOW this morning? :D

I agree that debating the principle of how the system works in theory is just a waste of breath.  The reality is that in our system, the MP MUST vote the way the party instructs.  There are no exceptions to that rule.  And breaking that rule results in the MP being thrown out of caucus, as we have seen many times, meaning they essentially no longer have a voice.  The parties form the committees, speaking time on the floor is assigned to a party, media coverage goes to parties. 

If you vote conservative, it does not matter a bit who your MP is.  Harper is the only voice allowed to speak, and that is well documented.

If you vote Liberal, should your MP become a cabinet member, they may be allowed a voice, but the Liberal party has demonstrated many times that the party brass call the shots, and even the leader usually obeys.

If you vote NDP, most of the time the caucus determines together how they will vote as a block, but it is still a vote block, with no variances permitted, and the final say lies with the leader.

The Greens, in campaigning, are far more open to loose cannons, but how they would be in the house remains to be seen.  I certainly haven't heard much about free votes from them.

How the system is described on paper only matters if it functions that way in practice.  In our system, we elect a party, or most often a leader.  Everybody else is a tool to get that party or leader in power.

Thinking you can vote for a candidate as if their party isn't up for consideration is, frankly, nuts.

Okay, Pan...  so I am looking for  a person who indicates that she/he has "a VISION, a senese of PURPOSE.... and come sense of JUSTICE"... anything in fact beyond immediate opportunism, rebates and a sharp capacity to slag someone else...

Thanks LB. I know two conservatives who are voting green this time because they can't support Harper. Imagine?!

I'll be going with strategic voting.  At heart I would like to vote for our NDP candidate.  But I'll be voting for our liberal candidate bc I don't want to have a conservative government.  Unfortunately our NDP candidate is very far behind at this point.

I have mentioned this before. I live in a riding that will most certainly elect the Conservative candidate. This is a riding that is dyed in the wool conservative. On the other hand, there is a strong showing for the Greens and NDP. The NDP has a good candidate here. I believe the Greens do as well. People remember Trudeau's energy policies here, and so the Liberals are behind in the pack. Our incumbant, Jay Hill, has retired, so there is a slim chance someone else could get in. I doubt it though. So, I get to vote with my conscience. If I do that, the party/candidate of my choice will get whatever credit they get. On the other hand, if a non-Conservative candidate shows some possibiblity of winning, I will vote for her.

 Northwind, I have a slim chance in hell that the conservative party will not get in in this riding.  

I can only hope and encourage, but, highly unlikely....

Is it only certain ridings that can vote at the returning office before the advance polls?  I thought all had that.

When it is clear that one party is going to win and you do not want to support it, then vote with this in mind:  to get a deposit back a party has to get 10% of the vote, and there is also a payment to the party which is dependent on the number of votes.  So if you support a party that is not going to win, then vote for it.

And I would just like to add to Panentheism, we get the government we vote.  This whole "split the vote" argument has led to "anything but" voting that leads to, and this is my own personal theory and I have no "real" citations to back it up, the whole attack ad campaign and cult of political personality that has eroded good government over the years.

Excuse me while I rant...

I blame the Americans, but mostly I blame Canadians for blithely following suit. 

There are people around the world who are truly risking their lives for democracy and we, the privileged we, have trivialized the process into petty vindictiveness.  Anyone who criticizes the current process is dismissed, dehumanized or demonized.

We have no clear choice because we uplift no one who shows integrity or honour - instead we support the promotion of those individuals' weakness in media and public attack.  We do not support those who oppose the status quo with anything more than a shake of the head, a "tut tut" or perhaps, on very rare occasions, "oh yeah, somebody should do something about that".

And it is we!  FOX news and the other rabid media outlets have the highest ratings and no one can tell me those numbers consist only of right wing nutters.  Others watch, maybe just to laugh and ridicule, but that is support because every viewer gives more money to the mongering machine.

Political partisanism allows us to ignore the destructive behavious of their own members.  Instead of saying, enough!  We support the "lesser of two evils".  There is a responsibility for members of a party to speak out against the abuses, to give the boot to leaders and candidates that perpetuate the disillusionment.

We are killing our neighbours in other lands.  We are killing our own young men and women on the pretense of "saving democracy".  A principle we neither practice nor appreciate.

So I say VOTE!  Vote for whoever *you* truly believe in.  Because no matter what, we get the government we deserve.

... I'll be quiet now, I just had to get that off my chest.

LB

i watch the spine of my country bend and break
i'm a sorry state

     Spirit of the West, Far Too Canadian

Thank you for your wonderful rant LB!

I'm definitely voting NDP.  It is the party that has the platform that I most agree with, and we have an excellent chance of winning (the MP for the Western Arctic has been an NDP MP for the past 5 years).  Not to mention the Conservative's Federalist policies regarding the NWT haven't done us many favours, so i'm hoping for either a large #3, or Offical Opposition status at the end of this election.

http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/politics/article/976225--ndp-moves-into-tie-with-liberals-poll

As-salaamu alaikum

-Omni

I am just listening to CBC. They say my riding has been Conservative for 40 years. Apparently, if is going to change, this is the year. A new Conservative candidate, and very good candidates in NDP, Liberal and even the Pirate Party. I will be going to the all candidates meeting tomorrow night to see.

Northwind - if you want someone other than conservative, this might be the time for strategic voting.  Find out which party has the best chance of winning and get behind them - for this election anyway.

I agree, on a certain level. I suspect the NDP candidate has the best chance, and she is also my favourite.

Absolutely. Fortunately, I can probably do both.