Voters are being conned…by the politicians for whom they voted. By the government that developed an electoral system that is flawed in many ways and many instances.
First, the Canadian parliamentary system is worth little. Your ballot is used to elect your local candidate. No matter who she is or what he represents, you have no one else you can vote for except the person who represents your riding. If the slate of candidates are nobodies, done nothing notable, lacking experience…too bad. Your vote goes to one of them. End of story.
What if you want to vote for a particular party to elect the person you want to see as Prime Minister but that party’s candidate in your riding is a real schmuck. Too bad. You vote for schmucko to elect the leader you want as PM. Worse, what if one of the other candidates is the worthy one, a politician with a proven track record but running for the party whose leader you oppose. Too bad again. You lose pal, Your vote is wasted or wrong. But it’s the Canadian system.
Here is the real-life scenario. A voter disliked Jagmeet Singh, leader of the NDP party because he did not have the look of a “regular Canadian.” Quebec did away with religious symbols in the public work places…and this became acceptable. Singh wears religious dictated head-apparel and to complain about it or focus on it is being racist. Looks like a lot of logical voting Quebecois are racists. When Singh was assaulted verbally by an angry voter in Montreal a few years back for how he looked, it was headline news as a racist incident. No one publically supported that Singh’s head ware is an example of proselytising or practicing a religion while sitting in public office. Racism! Anti-equality! Contra-democracy! Opposing the Canadian Constitution. If you oppose Singh for this act of religious freedom, you cannot vote NDP locally but what if the local NDP candidate is the ideal candidate. Hence, the fly in the ointment of Canada’s electoral system. The answer? Easy, two persons on the ballot for each party, the federal candidate and the local.
Second problem with our electoral system. The local candidates go through a nomination process that produces questionable results. Candidates may be less than ideal for various reasons. They do not reside in the riding; they have no political experience; they make outlandish and incredible promises; they’re the wrong gender, the wrong nationality or even more outlandish, unacceptable racially. These are the flaws in the nomination process. Worse, the nomination authorities may have their own biases or even unethically principled foundations. No matter, they are the nominating power and the voter bears the fruit of that nomination process.
Third problem is candidate qualification. There are no publically acknowledge criteria for candidacy, some financial requirements but nothing about experience, skills, knowledge, background relating to the work, education. A nominating committee could likely create reasonable eligibility criteria, but our system remains shrouded in secrecy. No one knows how candidates are selected or what the process is for selection. Another fly in the electoral ointment.
Trudeau promised electoral reform. None was done. Canadians still suffer with a flawed electoral system. Be that as it may, it is the only system we have and the most valuable part is YOU. You vote and “enough you’s” mean you get what you voted for…democracy at its best? Maybe. Most likely. Probably.
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EDITORIAL: The power of the vote means little
First, the Canadian parliamentary system is worth little. Your ballot is used to elect your local candidate. No matter who she is or what he represents, you have no one else you can vote for except the person who represents your riding. If the slate of candidates are nobodies, done nothing notable, lacking experience…too bad. Your vote goes to one of them. End of story.
What if you want to vote for a particular party to elect the person you want to see as Prime Minister but that party’s candidate in your riding is a real schmuck. Too bad. You vote for schmucko to elect the leader you want as PM. Worse, what if one of the other candidates is the worthy one, a politician with a proven track record but running for the party whose leader you oppose. Too bad again. You lose pal, Your vote is wasted or wrong. But it’s the Canadian system.
Here is the real-life scenario. A voter disliked Jagmeet Singh, leader of the NDP party because he did not have the look of a “regular Canadian.” Quebec did away with religious symbols in the public work places…and this became acceptable. Singh wears religious dictated head-apparel and to complain about it or focus on it is being racist. Looks like a lot of logical voting Quebecois are racists. When Singh was assaulted verbally by an angry voter in Montreal a few years back for how he looked, it was headline news as a racist incident. No one publically supported that Singh’s head ware is an example of proselytising or practicing a religion while sitting in public office. Racism! Anti-equality! Contra-democracy! Opposing the Canadian Constitution. If you oppose Singh for this act of religious freedom, you cannot vote NDP locally but what if the local NDP candidate is the ideal candidate. Hence, the fly in the ointment of Canada’s electoral system. The answer? Easy, two persons on the ballot for each party, the federal candidate and the local.
Second problem with our electoral system. The local candidates go through a nomination process that produces questionable results. Candidates may be less than ideal for various reasons. They do not reside in the riding; they have no political experience; they make outlandish and incredible promises; they’re the wrong gender, the wrong nationality or even more outlandish, unacceptable racially. These are the flaws in the nomination process. Worse, the nomination authorities may have their own biases or even unethically principled foundations. No matter, they are the nominating power and the voter bears the fruit of that nomination process.
Third problem is candidate qualification. There are no publically acknowledge criteria for candidacy, some financial requirements but nothing about experience, skills, knowledge, background relating to the work, education. A nominating committee could likely create reasonable eligibility criteria, but our system remains shrouded in secrecy. No one knows how candidates are selected or what the process is for selection. Another fly in the electoral ointment.
Trudeau promised electoral reform. None was done. Canadians still suffer with a flawed electoral system. Be that as it may, it is the only system we have and the most valuable part is YOU. You vote and “enough you’s” mean you get what you voted for…democracy at its best? Maybe. Most likely. Probably.
POSTS somewhat related to the above post...