I don't know about you but when I come to the end of something – a job, schooling, a vacation or whatever – I start noticing how things tend to come full circle.
Another example of this I noticed recently is that the year started with a federal election at the end of January that saw my fellow political junkies – Quinn & Christina – sitting at the Grad Club watching results come in (and being happily surprised when one of our profs, who'd we only had for a couple sessions by that point, joined us for a beer when he popped in after doing volunteer work for a local campaign.)
Now, at the end of the year, the very important federal by-election for London North-Centre will happen on Monday. Most students living in London will likely fall within the electoral boundaries and I've been told that you don't need to be pre-registered – you can simply show up at your nearest polling place with ID and proof of residence and be allowed to vote. Call the toll-free number (1 866 241-7804) to see if you're on the list already or if you have any other questions.
There is a wide field of candidates and even if you're not from London, you should probably consider voting as the results of this election will have national implications, especially since we're in a minority government. (Besides, most of the candidates aren't from London either!)
Continuing my non-partisan record of late, I'm not going to talk about who I'm going to vote for but I think a good policy for life is “always listen to Rick Mercer.” (Thanks to Barb J. for the link.)
A few of us happened upon a speech by Elizabeth May, leader and candidate for the Green Party, at the Grad Club last Wednesday and after getting over the affront that our conversation would be drowned out by her speech for ten or fifteen minutes, I decided this would be a good opportunity to ask a question.
“What do you say to people who would normally vote NDP to convince them to vote for you?”
Her response covered a variety of things. Working the question really well, she made allusion to the Green Party today being in a position similar to the early days of the CCF. (Does that make her Tommy Douglas?)
In her answer to my question and others, she made a number of points that did appeal to me – she'd become the only female leader of a political party, she'd be allowed to participate in the next leader's debates, she'd push for proportional representation so we don't have a situation where concentrated popularity like the Bloc is rewarded with 50 seats in the House while parties like the Greens who have definite national support don't end up with any seats. She pointed out that Greens are the only party that's part of an international network, she promises to be honest (but what politician doesn't say that?), electing her wouldn't affect the balance of power in the House of Commons (she'll have to run again in a year or two so it's a “try before you buy” model.) But I don't know – that all sounds good but there are some that say she's a Tory in green clothing.
On that note, did I mention that Megan Walker is running for the NDP? And she's <gasp> from London? And she's got a pretty strong bio and background herself? [Edit: Ian pointed out in the comment that Megan cut her teeth doing advocacy work on library issues, a fact that should matter if you're a library student. Whether you agree with the politics of the NDP or not, I think it's important to support candidates who have an awareness of issues that are relevant to you and your life.]
See you on Monday!
(Oh, and another thing that's come full circle – the prof who joined us in January for the election results was at the Grad Club on Wednesday and provided some interesting analysis on this by-election to help my thought processes along. I've got a tough decision to make on Monday but I think I know which way I'm leaning. Tommy Douglas would be proud.)
[Edit: here's a good story on the race from the Toronto Star.]
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