Hamilton Votes 2008

[SteelTown]

Dion needs to campaign long and hard in Ontario. If he can keep the Maritimes and keep or make gains in Ontario he'll either keep Harper minority or he'll be on the minority government side. Paul Martin won by winning Ontario and the Maritimes.

[adam]

Whenever Dion appears on English speaking news it looks like he wants to say something important, but it gets lost somewhere in the translation. Chretien may have had an accent, but people understood what he was saying. Good luck to Dion in trying to win over Ontario.

[the dude]

'a proof is a proof. what kind of proof? it's a proof. a proof is a proof. and when you have a good proof, it's because it's proven.'

one of chretien's more eloquent moments on parliament hill.

[ryan_mcgreal]

Originally Posted by raisethehammer

I care enough to not vote for any of these lying losers.

I think the words of David Foster Wallace RIP, while intended for the US, are just as appropriate here:

If you are bored and disgusted by politics and don't bother to vote, you are in effect voting for the entrenched Establishments of the ... major parties, who please rest assured are not dumb, and who are keenly aware that it is in their interests to keep you disgusted and bored and cynical and to give you every possible reason to stay at home doing one-hitters and watching MTV on primary day. By all means stay home if you want, but don't bullshit yourself that you're not voting. In reality, there is no such thing as not voting: you either vote by voting, or you vote by staying home and tacitly doubling the value of some Diehard's vote.

[raisethehammer]

so, what...I just walk in, close my eyes and ask the lady at the booth to make sure that I make a mark beside a name??

[adam]

I'm curious... what is everyone's top 5 issues for this election? For me they are (in no particular order)

- Health Care and privatization
- Employment
- Environment and Carbon Tax
- Participating in Overseas Wars and North American Union (I think a party would either support both or neither)
- Public Transportation Plan

I've realized mainstream media (news on TV, newspapers) doesn't really tell how each party stands on these issues in a clear, concise way. Its like they don't really want the public to be informed.. so I can understand why some people just want to "give up" and deny themselves the right to vote. Just imagine what it would be like if everyone felt that way..

[highwater]

Originally Posted by ryan_mcgreal

I think the words of David Foster Wallace RIP, while intended for the US, are just as appropriate here:

Or, if you like, the words of Rick Mercer:

“I hear a lot of people saying that they don’t want to choose between the lesser of three evils. Let me make this very clear: in a choice between three evils, it’s very important to ensure that the least evil person wins. Otherwise, you’re pro evil .”

[highwater]

My top 5:

climate change
climate change
climate change
the economy
climate change

[DC83]

^^ no parties are focusing on the issues either, it's all bash bash bash.

I was watching 3 'strategists' (one for each if the top 3 Parties) on CBC being interviewed by Suhana Marchand, and all they did was bash.
So Ms Marchand got so fed up (as she had asked them to stick to the questions) she pretty much gave them shit sayin, "If all you guys wanna do is bash eachother, I can't learn anything. We're supposed to be here to learn!"
Then the Liberal strategist says, "Ya but it's so fun!"

Top 5 priorities (in order):
-Environment (a Green Shift, not a green fad, MUST happen) -- we need a gov't serious aboout focusing on Green energy (windmills windmills windmills)
-Post Secondary Ed -- I liked Martin's 50% Gov't Paid idea from back in 06
-Economy
-Afghanistan: pull troops asap and replace as peace keeping/rebuilding roll -- rebuild our worldwide Peacekeeping-nation image
-Health Care: Same as above, just keep it Public!

[adam]

Net Neutrality is another issue I'd like to research with respect to the candidate parties..

[astroblaster]

in addition to health care, environment & economy, im also very concerned with copyright laws.

the harper government tried to push through new, american DMCA style copyright law.

here's some information:

http://www.faircopyrightforcanada.ca/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_C-...t,_2nd_Session)

something to consider if you are looking at voting conservative this year

[Millstone]

Originally Posted by raisethehammer

so, what...I just walk in, close my eyes and ask the lady at the booth to make sure that I make a mark beside a name??

You walk in and go over to the booth and don't write anything. Then put it in the box.

[highwater]

I think you can also officially 'decline' a ballot. At least then your protest will be on record instead of just being part of the apathetic masses.

[ryan_mcgreal]

Originally Posted by raisethehammer

so, what...I just walk in, close my eyes and ask the lady at the booth to make sure that I make a mark beside a name??

Same as always: Read the party platforms and vote for the party whose platform makes the most sense to you. Then, if they get elected, hold them accountable to keep their promises.

Originally Posted by adam

I'm curious... what is everyone's top 5 issues for this election?

1. Peak oil - We need a plan to reduce steadily our per capita energy consumption as the rate of energy production goes into permanent decline.
2. Climate change - We need a plan to reduce steadily GHG emissions (not just increase them more slowly).
3. Land use / transportation - Cities face a demographic double-whammy as both Boomers and young graduates try to move back downtown. We need a federal strategy to fund the infrastructure that will allow this transition to happen smoothly. This will also help reduce per capity energy consumption and GHG emissions.
4. Foreign policy - With global instability and a belligerent southern neighour, Canada needs the leadership not to get dragged along in imperial adventurism.
5. Intellectual property law - To be leaders in innovation, we need an IP framework that acknowledges how new technology transforms exchange markets, encourages sharing of ideas and protects open communications networks.

[SteelTown]

For me....

Economy
Environment
Infrastructure
Research & Development

[BrianE]

The Economy, The Environment, Climate Change. These are not separate issues, each of them are based on our current method of generating Energy. Through the combustion of fossil fuels (don't forget about Natural Gas, and Coal!) our economy is powered, our environment suffers from particulate matter and smog and other toxins and in the larger picture dealing with the effects of climate change will take up huge amounts of money in the future.

So #1 Energy Policy.

If government has a solid understanding or what must be done to our energy infrastructure, the economy, environment and climate change will follow.

No. 2 Infrastructure.

I know this should be a municipal issue, but damnit... there's just not enough money through property taxes to handle this. The federal government must commit to funding Cities.

No. 3 Arctic Sovereignty

This one is not on anybody's radar, but I think it has the potential to be a huge issue as Russia starts coming out of their 15 year funk. I believe the term, "if you don't use it, you lose it" applies here. We need to settle firm boundaries with the other Arctic bordering nations and we need to set up a presence in the Arctic. The transition away from fossil fuels will take a long long time, and in the mean time we need to secure the resources within our borders.

I think Dion gets it, the Green Shift is a good start. It doesn't separate the three big issues, it realizes that they're all connected. I don't know where the Liberals stand on Infrastructure funding, but if the Ontario Libs are any indication, they would be supportive.

I don't know their possition on the Arctic, but I hope they firm up a plan to fund research teams and communities way up there. And yes, beef up the military presense as well... we have to be prepared.

[adam]

On the Conservatives website under the topic Sovreignty it only discusses the Arctic. It then goes on to condemn all other parties for not focusing solely on the Arctic. There is no mention of the Yukon border, fresh water, natural resources, economic solidarity, copyright laws... all sovreignty-based issues but not even mentioned...???

[adam]

Article on net neutrality

The Conservatives are not acknowledging this free speech issue. The NDP have spoken out to defend net neutrality as the article discusses.

[adam]

51st State

An ironic chronicle of the fight to maintain Freedom of Expression in Canada. 51st State is a clickable comic book. It links to 193 websites, blogs, films and papers and articles. For best viewing download to your hard drive and then click links.

http://www.digital-copyright.ca/51state


... the more i read the more i realize how important this election is...

[FairHamilton]

#1 - Economy. Because everything else depends on an economy in good shape. The government set by-elections in August for September, and then called an election, eliminating the need for by-elections. Call me a conspiracy theorist, but something funny is going on in the government. Perhaps the economy is on the verge of something worse then has reported.

#2 - Environment. http://thespec.com/article/423128, this is only news because it can be seen in an urban environment. Can you imagine what goes on that can't be seen. Need anything more need to be said.

#3 - Arts & Culture. Bill C-10 is just censorship by another name. Hey Conservative, Arts & Culture benefits society as a whole!! Sadly,

#4 - Education. When I went to university (Laurier) in the late 80's a full time tuition was $621/semester. You young guys read that right $621 for a full course load for one semster. We need to keep it affordable, because it contributes to our competitive advantage. I also thinks it heavily influences the #'s 1, 2, 3 & 5.

#5 - Healthcare - I think that it's a contributing factor to this http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2008/...ath-stats.html. The alternative is http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/06/11....ap/index.html, and I suspect 2 years is priceless when you are staring at the grim reaper. And I couldn't imagine Canada accepting something similar to this http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/80897.php