When I think of the next federal election, I get a feeling of hopelessness. I feel like we’re screwed no matter what.
Without any hope of electoral reform, I wonder if we can instead use the tools we have better.
Independents running always seems like a long shot. The cards are stacked against them. But would it be possible to make it easier for them?
One of my thoughts would be to use technology. Create a platform for people to engage with their local riding, stripped of obvious party association. And not pay-to-play for candidates.
Does an idea like that have merit? Do you have any other ideas?
ALWAYS:
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pick the least-worst candidate who a) can win the job and b) do good for regular Canadians like Canadians.
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vote for that guy.
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Repeat .
This isn’t hard. You don’t need to feel defeatist about it, but you need to understand you’re not shooting for perfection so much as just getting the best of the bad options.
I think it is hard. All their platforms look the same, it’s difficult to find their voting records. Even their promises can’t be trusted.
And since the candidates you hear the most about tend to be the leaders there’s a bias to vote for a party, rather than your representative.
Beyond that issues are often things I’m not particularly knowledgeable about, so I don’t know say how bad bringing in pay for healthcare would be for the public system (you’ve got to read studies to know that shit).
In make believe land I think that only impacted and experts would have a say. So corporate interests wouldn’t get quite so much say, and distribution would be better. And farmers would get more say on ag related issues and technical people would get more say on things like DRM… But really that also probably just turn to shit.
I think it is hard. All their platforms look the same, it’s difficult to find their voting records. Even their promises can’t be trusted.
Here’s the key to democratic participation: you have to keep paying attention to politics. Even if voting records were easy to find, it’s SUPER hard to form an opinion because you’d need to recover all the context and discussions during the voting times. Sometimes good politicians will vote against decent laws due to practicalities that you’ll miss if you just glance at a table.
So it is hard to filter for candidates who “do good for regular Canadians”, not because it’s hard to find information, but because most people are trying to cram the elections, and you really can’t. If you’re not willing to spend that energy keeping up with politics, find someone you trust that do and just ask that person for a detailed opinion.
It’s cool to have someone agree with me so much
With every iteration candidates will keep getting worst.
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The vast majority of voters will not research candidates before voting. You have to reach them via marketing.
You can’t fund that without money. Especially against existing parties that have built up brand awareness over the years.
The best way to impact the real results is to join the party closest to your goals, and then organize/vote internally on policy. Given how few people involve themselves in this process your individual impact is much more significant.
Internal policy is a way to build internal engagement. It isn’t binding. By all means, get involved, and try to push ideas that you think will help, but aim to get local candidates interested in your issues. That will be more effective than getting rank-and-file volunteers to vote for a motion.
Just because it isn’t binding doesn’t mean it doesn’t influence choices. It still has a far larger impact than the general vote. Also getting involved in internal policy will almost guarantee you get exposure to local candidates.
Do you have any other ideas?
Understanding that we have a democracy is the first step. Democracy does not happen on election day. Election day is merely the hiring process. Democracy is every day. That means that you need to be actively involved. It means shoving your face in your MP’s day in, day out.
The reality is that It doesn’t really matter what labour union (or lack thereof) your MP happens to belong to. They’re all human at the end of the day, and humans respond to what’s in front of them. The squeaky wheel gets the grease, as they say. So make sure you are the squeakiest wheel.
Remember, they’re just an employee. Hired by you! Like always, if an employee screws up, it’s not their fault. It’s the management’s fault for not properly managing the employee. So make sure you’re not a bad manager. Do your job and everything will run smoothly, always.
My MP is a Liberal and only pays attention to the party Whip.
Then be sure to whip harder. They being a member of a labour union does make your job harder, no question. That’s kind of the whole reason why workers join labour unions. But you’re still the boss and need to make that known.
Hired by committee including a shit ton of people who actively try to regress us*
This, right here, is the answer.
Twitter was the best place to reach out to them. Otherwise it’s email.
The Canadian Mastodon server should become the new default social media to replace Twitter in Canada.
Why do you despair? Because voters will choose a team that you wouldn’t choose? Or because politicians suck? Or because Canada is on the wrong track and none of the parties are willing to fix it?
Because those are all aspects of democracy. And even though democracy is a terrible system, it’s better than every other system we’ve ever tried.
The more I get involved in politics, the more cynical I become. But I hope you succeed at coming up with a better way to do it.
Independents running always seems like a long shot. The cards are stacked against them. But would it be possible to make it easier for them?
At Federal-level politics? Giving up on federal and go for a local role where you have a chance, or giving up on being independent and joining a party.
How many current Members of Parlement were independent at time of being elected? 0
How many do we currently have? 3.
Alain Rayes left the Cons because Pierre Poilievre won the leadership.
Han Dong Was Lib, but a couple of Allegations of helping China interfere later and he stepped down.
Kevin Vuong was LIb, but a couple of allegations of sexual assault, profiteering from Covid, and Chinese government interferance later, and the Libs dropped him.
