That seems to be a problem with referenda on election reform. We had one in Ontario many years ago, about adopting a mixed member proportional system. The problem was, I didn’t particularly like the system they were proposing, and all the pro-change supporters seemed to go out of their way to misrepresent how the system would actually work in practice. So they lost, and no one has tried any sort of reform since then.
In BC, the anti-change people were quick to misrepresent the options too. It was a mess. Here, where the NDP is always a contender in the provincial election, the party was quick to denounce it, as were the Liberals, the other contender. So with no real champion, it fell to pieces and soured everyone.
Even the most basic ranked system or proportional representation is challenging to describe in ways that make it appealing, simple, cheap in practice, and in a form where people actually want to read about it. Plenty of people tune out everything about politics, except perhaps what their bubble buddies believe.
The advantages gained are often modest, and people find them confusing. PR is good when there are many different parties and perspectives. It remains my position the main Canadian parties are, on the whole, pretty similar on the majority of their views.
And of course one reason people tune out politics is because there is no party that comes close to representing their views. And FPTP ensures that even if there were such a party, unless it won the election it would have no useful voice in government and people would remain ill-represented, thus reinforcing the idea there is no point to pay much attention.
I make no claim for its statistical significance but every year for 15 years I have 250 first year university students do the survey at political compass.org. In all that time, I think a total of 12 students end up even close to the Liberals and Conservatives. Most are further left and less authoritarian than the NDP.No wonder young people don’t vote.
Also, since FPTP makes life very difficult for small parties, you may have the scenario backwards: because we have FPTP, we have few parties, representing a narrow range of views
No party comes close to representing their beliefs? In Canada?
Because most people are broadly okay with the public health care system. Most people think the education system is pretty good. Most think Canada should play a modest role in international affairs - perhaps as peacekeepers. Most think business should be allowed to innovate, make reasonable profits and be fairly taxed. Most think personal medical issues like abortion should not be made by politicians. Most favour handouts for causes they support and cuts to ones they do not. (By most, I am including the major parties.)
Sure, degrees of tax and handouts differ. No one is talking about legal reform or crime. Support of pharmacare and child care differs; as does support to Indigenous causes or students. This is not the first election to mention them, and is not synonymous with taking action. Budgetary prudence is not being much discussed by any party this election.
I submit other countries have much greater difference in consensual views.
I also liked this site with riding by riding predictions:
https://electionarium.com/2021-canadian-election-results-and-predictions/
In terms of indigenous affairs, what most Canadians seem to want is exactly what the government is giving them; performative nonsense, but no real change. Flags at half staff? Sure. Substantial territorial concessions and constitutional change? Too hard.
This is largely true. But I think that this was changed somewhat by the residential school discoveries.
Several years ago I had my elderly aunt do this - she had voted Conservative her whole life, but really hated the local candidate (due to his egregious cheating during the previous election, and his support for boondogle roadwork projects). She ended up being closest to the Green Party, and voted that way. Helped get Elizabeth May into Parliament.
People who take the survey are often surprised how far their views are from the major parties. Suggesting the main parties accurately represent people’s actual views assumes that which needs to be proved. I applaud your aunt!
I see Jody has maxed out the revenge potential with her book release:
“In that moment, I knew he wanted me to lie.” Jody Wilson-Raybould recalls a tension-filled meeting with Justin Trudeau
Right Jody. You have the superpower of knowing exactly what people are thinking, because you were bitten by a radioactive newt. Tell us all the other amazing things you “know” about people.
I’d change this slightly to “In that moment, I knew I could spin some bullshit and attempt to profit from it”
A very misleading CPoC front page/full page ad in Saturday’s Ottawa Citizen, shows a graphic for “Total Federal Debt of All Prime Ministers”. A grey bar with a top amount of $634.4 Billion, with the barely visible names of all PMs from John A. to Harper, is flanked by a slightly higher white bar with a top amount of $659.1 Billion, with the whole bar labelled “Trudeau” in big red letters. Clearly intended to imply that Trudeau is personally responsible for the whole of Canada’s current debt.
This is very typical of many discussions about debt. Comparisons across different periods is hard; it is not even easy to calculate the “worth”of a dollar from 1867 to the present.
I think the intent was to ahow that he is responsible for more than half the debt. How you get ‘all debt’ out of that is not clear to me.
I voted early today. There was a pretty big line. It reminded me that Canada must be the most racist, vote-suppressing country ever, because I had to show my registration card, then they looked me up in the registered voters list to make sure I had the right to vote. I then had to show my photo ID. Oh, and I had to show my ID and registration card just to get into the facility. No ballots are mailed out - you don’t get a ballot until you’ve shown your ID and proved that you live in that voting district.
Once I filled out the ballot I put it in the ballot box, and the election officials write your name and address into another register so that the votes can be compared to the registration roles. All of this is done on paper. No voting machines anywhere.
You didn’t have to show photo ID. You could have showed a library card and a utility bill, or any two of a couple dozen easily obtained documents. Do we really have to bring in talking points from American politics where the running of elections is a partisan affair, unlike in Canada?
Indeed. You can bring TWO PIECES OF ID from the following list.
You could also vote in advance polls, or by mail. In Canada, there is a lot of non-partisan encouragement to vote, and we try to make it as easy as possible.
From a government or government agency
band membership card
birth certificate
Canadian citizenship card or certificate
Canadian Forces identity card
Canadian passport (accepted only as proof of identity)
card issued by an Inuit local authority
firearms licence
government cheque or cheque stub
government statement of benefits
health card
income tax assessment
Indian status card or temporary confirmation of registration
library card
licence or card issued for fishing, trapping or hunting
liquor identity card
Métis card
old age security card
parolee card
property tax assessment or evaluation
public transportation card
social insurance number card
vehicle ownership
Veterans Affairs health care identification card
From Elections Canada
targeted revision form to residents of long-term care facilities
voter information card
From an educational institution
correspondence issued by a school, college or university
student identity card
From a health care facility or organization
blood donor card
CNIB card
hospital card
label on a prescription container
identity bracelet issued by a hospital or long-term care facility
medical clinic card
From a financial institution
bank statement
credit card
credit card statement
credit union statement
debit card
insurance certificate, policy or statement
mortgage contract or statement
pension plan statement
personal cheque
From a private organization
employee card
residential lease or sub-lease
utility bill (e.g.: electricity; water; telecommunications services, including telephone, cable or satellite)
Letters of confirmation
letter from a public curator, public guardian or public trustee
letter of confirmation of residence from a First Nations band or reserve or an Inuit local authority
letter of confirmation of residence, letter of stay, admission form, or statement of benefits from one of the following designated establishments:
student residence
seniors’ residence
long-term care facility
shelter
soup kitchen
a community-based residential facilityFinally, there is also option 3 if you have NO ID WHATSOEVER:
You can still vote if you declare your identity and address in writing and have someone who knows you and who is assigned to your polling station vouch for you.
Thanks and tip o the hat to Sam Stone for encouraging me to bring you this information
In absolute dollars (since apparently adjusting for inflation isn’t a thing) the vast majority of the left column is the responsibility of Mulroney and Harper. I can’t imagine why the chief agent of the CPC didn’t highlight that fact. I’m just checking the historical record, but I can’t see that there were any global pandemics during the tenures of either Mulroney or Harper. Harper does get the excuse of the 2008 recession, I guess.
That ad is inexcusable bullshit. Thanks for posting it.
The deficit scare is also misleading in that it tries to equate government debt with consumer debt. The point of such deception is to make people think the country is broke because of wanton spending, all the fault of the other guys
We can debate what a harmful level of debt might be, and what the money should be spent on, but the point of stressing the debt is an emotional appeal to fear and ignorance. Like most such appeals, it can be articulated in a few words—“debt bad—fear repo man!”— and takes a week to debunk.
One reason it works is people are taught simplistic economic myths at an early age. Such myths then form part of how we think and act in the world, regardless of their actual truth value.
And the “truths” are reinforced and repeated endlessly, in big and small ways. The daily stock market reports, for example, are useless for most people but serve to reinforce the notion that the economy works above the level of human intervention and so can’t be “meddled with” by anyone but a few experts. Who, coincidentally, get rich…