Could this be the last false majority for Ontario? We can only hope.
From CTV.ca:
"It's a difficult decision: I don't like the choices," said one riding resident as he sipped a coffee in the sunshine outside a Second Cup at the York Mills plaza in the heart of the riding.Interesting comment indeed. Sounds like the same type of grumblings that existed prior to the 2007 PEI general election this past spring, and we all know how that ended up.
"John Tory is pressing for these religious based schools and I don't like it, and Kathleen Wynne is a very strong candidate but I can't stand her leader."
Moreover, you know this isn't the only fellow or gal in Ontario who will be casting their ballot based on lack of choices at the top. Let's hope that the insanity of the FPTP system is put to rest on the 10th because Ontarioans deserve better.
It's not worth having a leader elected to a (false?) majority based on the fact that his/her policies were the lesser of the two evils. That's not how democracy should work. Ontarioans deserve more [voting] options. That I do know.
3 Comments:
First the bad news. I do a lot of volunteer work for fairvote, a lot of pavement pounding and a lot of talking to folks. I seriously doubt that there is a hope in hell of the referendum passing. Something else that was a bit 'scary' was the simply fact that a LOT of people, at least in this area, don't even speak english. I had no idea until I started going door to door.
However, the biggest problem will be what I call 'the geezer factor'. These are the old guys (and they are usually guys) who are just terrified of changing the status quo. They know that if you get rid of the liberals, within ten years they'll be back again.
Bigger than that though, seems to be the idea of 'fringe parties'. Many old guys I spoke didn't think it was 'fair' that a party that gets only 4% of the votes should actually get 4% of the seats. And of course people are completely illogical beings, some of these guys had even voted for a candidate who lost-so they got NO representation.
The good news, is that with people's complete distrust of politicians now almost equally, as you say, we may end up with a minority government despite not having proportional representation.
And that can only be a good thing, even without the 'fringe parties', minorities at least make governments pay SOME attention to the electorate.
But for the referendum, if what I see out there on the campaign trail is any indication, until these old geezers stop showing up to vote, we're stuck with the status quo. HOPEFULLY, that won't be bad news for the maritimes. As we know, about the only thing that 'unites' political parties is pointing the finger at others, as McGuinty has been doing about equalization payments lately.
Good point. And judging from my scarce knowledge of the Miramichi and the north (went door to door up there in '06), this very same sentiment [which resists change] is alive and kicking.
Btw, my apologies for the simple minds reference at the end, but it does fit doesn't it?
Hopefully Ontario voters will change the channel on his flip-flop on funding faith-based schools and start demanding more debate on other serious issues. The voters deserve better than this current charade.
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