I hate strategic voting and I’m holding my nose and voting for Carney anyway to keep Polievre out. I wish the NDP wasn’t such a mess. But I don’t want Canada to get into bed with the orange rapist.
Vote early, but vote once, please!
I’m in the same boat. I like what the NDP has to say most of the time, but sadly that’s not the kind of election we’re having this time around.
I get it - strategic voting feels necessary under our current system. But this cycle of “holding our noses” every election is exactly what FPTP is designed to create.
With proportional representation, you could vote for who you actually believe in without fear of “wasting” your vote. Every vote would count toward representation - no more impossible choices.
If you’re tired of this broken cycle, check out ways to grow the proportional representation movement so we can build a democracy where strategic voting becomes obsolete.
It’s just my little joke.
I would like the NDP to get a new leader. I don’t dislike Jagmeet, but things have not gone well. My kingdom to resurrect Jack Layton.
I admired Jack Layton!
Don’t forget that Layton was the one who moved the NDP closer to centrist.
Tommy Douglas would be apoplectic at what the CCF/NDP has become.
Jack Layton died as he was hitting some of his highest points of popularity, which leaves the trajectory of his plan as literally and fundamentally unknowable.
In May, the NDP, for the first time, won enough seats to form official Opposition, and then in August, Jack Layton died of cancer.
You never knew Tommy Douglas or how we would react to the situation, don’t use his name to disparage Jack Layton. That is horizontal violence at best.
No, I didn’t know Tommy Douglas. But I did grow up in Saskatchewan and my grandfather, who ran in a provincial election for the CCF, did know him. Having heard stories from my grandpa I feel safe in saying what I did.
Maybe you should ask before assuming.
Fair enough, point taken.
You vote the system you have. FPTP necessitates strategic voting. Look at your riding, acknowledge reality, vote accordingly, and if you really care about making things better - talk to your MPs/MLAs frequently, regardless of who wins.
Yes, FPTP forces strategic voting - but we don’t have to accept this broken system! Our electoral system has changed before and can change again.
Every time we resign ourselves to strategic voting, we perpetuate the very system that forces us to vote strategically. It’s a vicious cycle that only proportional representation can break.
Want a democracy where your vote actually counts? Join us: simple things you can do to grow the proportional representation movement.
While I agree that Canada being one of 3 major democracies (4 if you count India) still using FPTP to everyone’s detriment, we’re talking about who leads Canada in 8 days.
In a perfect world, PR decoupling MPs/MLAs from leadership is probably ideal for the times; give everyone a voice with fewer hostages to party zealots who are there only because their constituents only know the party leader’s name.
How can I easily check the poll results for my riding?
Who I vote for entirely depends on what the poll results are, voting for a party that is entirely unpopular in my riding would throw away my vote, but if, say, NDP has a chance, I’ll vote for them.
https://smartvoting.ca/ is one tool. Best of luck, all you can do is your best.
That’s an awesome tool, thank you!
So I’m supposed to vote conservative I’d rather stay home.
So then my strategic voting is staying at home and not wasting my time. And don’t BS me with every vote matters my conservative candidate has a 99% chance of winning, the other candidates didn’t even bother putting up any signs.
Then it’s 98, then it’s 95, then it’s 75, then it’s 50. Shit changes, even Alberta voted in the NDP not that long ago. The trick is getting off your ass and spending the minimum amount of time to exercise your democratic right. Complacency is what got the US where it is today.
Not sure why you’re railing against this comment.
An objection vote is advocating for literally anyone else (Green or PPC or whatever your views even), as well as attending town halls and talking with your MP/MLA.
As an Albertan, putting MLAs on notice last election who usually enjoy a 5:1 spread eroded to 2:1 or 3:2; that kind of pivot definitely makes them uncomfortable, especially in the span of 4 years. These are metrics they closely pay attention to, as it determines whether they have a job next term. It’s also useful for “popular vote” metrics, and highlighting broken systems.
As another commentor acknowledged, advocating for something beyond FPTP is also a good use of time - essentially the USA, Canada and the UK are the last meaningful holdouts.
But it is your vote; voting is ultimately the minimum amount of effort someone can effectuate (they can mail it to you, and you use your favorite crayon to write a dozen letters). Absentee is (almost always) just a Conservative vote anyways, so accepting that is also a choice. Demonstrably, none of this is “BS.”
Very nicely put. Thank you.
Myself and my wife just voted today. Took 5 minutes. Fuck PP.
The most important thing now is to prevent the worst outcome. Good luck gentlemen.
There was an hour long lineup at the advance poll this morning
I find that Canadians lost their taste for Trudeau, but dislike fascism a lot more.
It was pretty early on for me.
Probably the whiplash i got from how quickly he abandoned his “this will be the last first past the post election”
This election and the last might have be much more palatable for people carrying their votes this time around
I had a very weird experience.
Walked over with my dogs, my wife goes first while i wait outside and it takes 2 hours, had all kinds of extra verification steps and stuff. I go in, same length line, a volunteer looks at my voter card and has me skip the queue for some reason and I’m in and out in 5 minutes and they barely check anything but crossing my name off.
Maybe they let you skip the line because they felt bad for taking 2hrs with your wife haha
Same. I went around 3pm and they said it’s been like that since they opened at 9. Great to see.
I don’t need to hold my nose for Carney or the MP running in my riding, and I say this as someone who has voted NDP for almost 20 years.
Hopefully the best and most qualified win this one.
I’ll vote on election day. My polling station is in a school gymnasium a block away. Hope it doesn’t piss out like the BC election, was torrential. Still made it out, always do.
Was going to go this morning but I’m too sick. Yay. Hopefully tomorrow.
Aww I hope you feel better.
Just in case: There are websites that tell you how each party is polling in each riding. If your riding isn’t competitive for conservatives then absolutely don’t vote liberal. If the people who have to will strategically vote liberal, then the people who can must vote their conscience to avoid more lesser evil politics (which just might guarantee a conservative government later on as seen from your neighbors down south).
Lol. It’s crazy to me that progressive Canadians act like the Liberals are the devil incarnate when they live in one of the stablest and most progressive countries in the world, and it’s been lead largely by Liberal governments for most of its history.
Like I don’t agree with every decision they’ve made but it’s also crazy to just view them as incompetent northern Democrats.
Okay full disclosure I’m not Canadian I’m just here for the political drama, but Canada is trailing behind Europe in terms of peogressiveness no? No proportional representation for one, and until recently no dental healthcare.
Like I don’t agree with every decision they’ve made but it’s also crazy to just view them as incompetent northern Democrats.
I don’t think anyone here, including me, has said that. They do represent the business as usual political establishment so the broad comparison tracks; Canada has issues that will lead to a conservative majority if not addressed and a minority government has a much better chance of addressing those issues in a satisfactory way than a liberal majority government.
Okay full disclosure I’m not Canadian I’m just here for the political drama, but Canada is trailing behind Europe in terms of peogressiveness no? No proportional representation for one, and until recently no dental healthcare.
That is a massive quibble / splitting of hairs over an incredibly subjective metric. Whether or not Canada is number 1 or 2 or top 5 is not relevant. The point stands.
I don’t think anyone here, including me, has said that.
That is precisely what your previous comment implied.
They do represent the business as usual political establishment so the broad comparison tracks; Canada has issues that will lead to a conservative majority if not addressed and a minority government has a much better chance of addressing those issues in a satisfactory way than a liberal majority government.
Really. What evidence do you have for that? Please do educate us with your extensive knowledge of Canadian parliamentary history and the relative effectiveness of our minority governments.
Your post would be better worded as “if your riding isn’t competitive for conservatives, you don’t have to vote strategically and can vote for your preferred candidate/party.”
