Tuesday, June 22, 2004
Cast my ballot last night in the advanced poll as I won't be in the country for the general elections next Monday. I was a bit torn lately on who to give my vote too. I like the NDP and Jack Layton, but I have my doubts about the local candidate. The Green Party's seemed like a person I could relate to, but perhaps too much of a treehuggger for my liking. I don't live in Quebec so the Bloc's out of the question. I have this great dislike for Harper and it grows daily. It really bothers me because it has come to my attention that he will say ANYTHING to get votes. There's the swipe at Atlantic Canada back when he was part of the Alliance. The open letter to some American newspaper (I believe it was the Wallstreet Journal) "apologizing" for Canada not participating in Iraq. The big "Americanized" tax cuts. Blind investments in the military. The list goes on as to why Harper scares me. They definitely weren't getting my vote. Question was, do I vote for the party I like, or vote for the Liberals just to ensure the Conservatives don't get in?
I'll be trying to follow the elections from Hong Kong. To everyone that hasn't voted yet, please don't vote for the Conservatives - I'd hate to come back with them in power.
In the end since I'm living in Freddie I should vote here. It's pretty much a question of NDP vs. Green. I like the two candidates for those parties. I can't think of anything Andy Scott has accomplished in over a decade, and Kent Fox is too much of an Alliance leftover to even consider.
The dynamics of how a government is formed in the case of a minority are quite complex, and aren't as straightforward as I thought. For example, if there's no majority party, I believe the governor general goes to the previous governing party and asks their leader if he can form a government. I'll find a good explation of this and post it when I do.
