like every campaign, i took myself out to an all-candidates’ meeting last night. while i have very clear ideas about who i want to win the upcoming provincial election, i still make it a point to attend at least one meeting so i can say i have actually heard what the candidate i’m voting for has to say for themselves.
what i got from last night is that the incumbent in my riding is a very angry woman who started blatantly blowing off answering any of the later questions put forth. the marijuana party candidate, while being very poised and well-spoken, answered only two questions without using the word “prohibition”. the democratic reform party candidate distracted me by being a veritble clone of my friend ritchie, bored me with being a one-trick pony, yet impressed me with the chutzpah it takes to run for office at the tender age of twenty-two. while i agreed with a lot of what the green party candidate had to say, i still can’t help but think a vote for him is both reckless and wasteful. the ndp candidate was very smooth, engaging and witty, but he has an air of elitism just below the surface which just niggles at me; he’s almost too smooth.
despite the obvious importance of making an informed choice as to who will be running our province for the next four to five years, i think the more important issue we’ll be deciding next tuesday is the referrendum on the BC-STV. a YES vote means changing our voting process from first past the post (where in 50% + 1 wins and any vote after that +1 is basically thrown out) to a proportional voting system (where your vote actually is applied to a candidate of your choice).
after the federal election of a minority government last summer, i did some research on various proportional representation systems. it would completely alter the way we elect representatives and the way those elected representatives would serve their constituents. it would mean that each vote you cast actually had value. instead of feeling as if your vote for a fringe party was a waste, you could actually vote your heart and conscience with confidence your voice would be heard which is something sorely lacking in our current system. here is a great flash animation explaining the proposed system.
i don’t really care who or what you vote for next tuesday, just so long as you vote with an informed and rational mind. and, just remember, if you don’t vote, you can’t complain (or praise) for four years!
God, your apartment’s so neat.
you think so? geez, my desk is a mess!
That is NOT a mess. Not even close. :)
yeah, like totally clean… how is that done? I can get to that state for about twenty minutes, but its an unstable arrangement — like an experimental molecule. Eventually the physical laws of the universe exert their control again and chaos returns.
Would wood panelling be too much? ;-)
Proportianal representuation makes lots of sense, to me at least. But here in ‘murca we have two parties that know that as soon as they let people have better representiation all hell will break loose and they’ll have to be accountable for their incompetance.
You make me feel bad for being nowhere near that in cleanliness. Nowhere near.
Mind you, my cat produces dust-bunny-like clumps of fur which can dodge brooms in a way that makes you think they’re living things.
wait just one minute. tidy does not equal clean. okay? you want to see nasty? come visit the bathroom i haven’t cleaned in way too long. that should make you feel much better.
your apartment looks SO COOL!
oh, and I just advance voted and I got all teary eyed as I plopped my vote into the box. Seriously. All choked up. VOTING RULES!
you are very clean and tidy heather…unless you just hid everything before i came over ;)
it’s true then. i have turned into my mother. save me.
oh, hooray for stv! it’s my baby. it felt so good to vote for it again. i’m totally scared that it might actually pass, because i haven’t expected it to.
i think we’ll win in kingsway. north van is way less likely, but i hope keating wins. whittred is really lame, and hasn’t earned a return ticket.
let’s play music bingo next week, on the 24th.