We find ourselves in the midst of another election. Again. It’s like deja vu. I don’t think any of the candidates in my district have changed since 2008. In fact, I’m pretty sure they just dragged out the signs from last time and put them back up. If I had to guess, we’re going to find ourselves with another Conservative minority. Just like the last 2 elections.
In any case, Canadian political parties don’t tend to be as polarized as United States political parties. The difference between the Conservatives and Liberals aren’t as great as the parties try to make it. I don’t see a significant difference between a Conservative minority or a Liberal minority. I know, the current polls are putting the NDP in second place. Maybe that will make a difference… maybe not.
Where do I stand? I’m probably voting Green. I probably identify as a Liberal if we’re talking about the mainstream political parties. I used to identify definitely as a socialist/NDP-er (and have voted NDP in the past… because obviously I’ve voted so much) but I have been moving right-wards, I think.
Why Green? I identify strongly with the environmental focus – I think it’s something that really needs attention. It’s so easy to forget about it as we go about our daily lives because the earth changes so slowly. The only time that it seems to come to mind is when natural disasters happen. Then everyone becomes an environmentalist. The earth isn’t ours – it’s a temporary loan. It was here long before we were and it is our responsibility to treat it well. The Earth is not ours to wreck.
As for the rest of the Green party platform – to be honest, it seems a bit idealist at first glance. The Green party platform tends to identify on the political spectrum in different places depending on the current leader. I agree with it generally, but as I mentioned above, I don’t find the Canadian political parties significantly different from each other, especially when it comes to general governance.
I love politics – I realize it’s much less interesting in Canadian than it is in the States but it intrigues me anyway. If I get around to it, I may post my thoughts on the other parties.
