Segacs's World I Know

Posts Tagged ‘marlene jennings’

In a democracy, I have an absolute right not to discuss how I intend to vote with anyone. However, I’m choosing to waive that right, because politics is such an important topic on this blog, to discuss why, despite the corruption, scandals and aggravation, unlike so many Canadians, I won’t be switching my vote from Liberal to Tory this time around. This is the first time I’ve ever felt the need to explain my vote, and maybe that makes the vote all that much more important.

So why vote Liberal, you may ask?

Is it because I think the Liberals have done such a great job? Not really.

Is it because I buy into the scare tactics about Stephen Harper being George W. Bush reincarnated, prepared to turn us into a far right-wing theocracy? No, I find those ads amusing at best and ridiculously disastrous for the Liberals at worst.

Is it because I think that the culture of corruption that has set in amongst the Liberals is worth rewarding? Definitely not.

Is it because I’m voting strategically, in a riding where a Liberal vote would prevent a Bloc or NDP candidate from getting elected? Nope, my riding has been solidly Liberal since 1968 and even the sponsorship scandal won’t be changing that anytime soon. I could safely lodge a protest vote with little impact.

Is it because Martin convinced me in the debates? Not at all; in fact, he’s probably one of the worst debaters I’ve ever seen, and he got his butt kicked all the way to Ellesmere Island and back.

Is it because I agree with the majority of the Liberal policies and platform issues? Not even.

Is it because I believe that a Liberal victory represents the best chance to keep Quebec in Canada and to fight sovereignty? On the contrary, I think it will probably hurt a great deal.

So, you’re probably asking yourself, why on earth would I vote for this party?

Good question.

The answer is simple: Despite all the scandals, despite all the corruption, despite the promises I don’t believe and the policies I don’t agree with, the Liberal party still is the “best of the worst” in my mind. On the major things the government has done lately, I’ve been much closer to the Liberal point of view than to the Tory one.

Some examples:

• The economy: Whatever else he’s done, Martin has balanced the budget and improved economic conditions. He did his best to stand up to people like Jack Layton against spending we can’t afford. He even stood up to Bono – and hey, if you can say no to Bono, you can say no to anyone. The Canadian dollar is up, unemployment is down, and while the economy is still plagued with problems, I simply don’t believe that Harper is better equipped to solve them than Martin is. The Tory promises to reduce the GST may play well in the media, but in practice there are plenty of other places worth cutting first.
• Social issues: Gay marriage is probably the most prominent example lately. As I’ve stated many times on this blog before, every Canadian – gay or straight – ought to recognize this as an issue of fundamental human rights. Any of us who belong to any kind of minority should understand that if you can have a majority-rules decision against one minority, the same logic could be used against any of us. Martin and the Liberals were on the right side of this one. Harper and the Tories were on the wrong side. And while I don’t really believe Harper will reverse it, nor do I agree with electing a party that has dedicated so much time, energy and resources to fighting it. I think the Liberals took a courageous position on this one and I respect them for it (if for little else).
• Voting for the candidate, not the party: Cop-out? Perhaps. But I like Marlene Jennings, the incumbent Liberal MP in my riding, well enough. Her voting record is often in step with what I believe (though not always), and she has been especially strong in defending Israel and in working to strengthen Canada’s ties with Israel, which is an issue of importance to me. And I’m comfortable having her represent my riding in Parliament, whether as a member of the government or as a member of the opposition.

So the upshot is, I’m not entirely happy to be voting Liberal and I’m not about to hit the campaign trail for Martin’s team. There are plenty of places where I flat-out disagree with the Liberals on policy, and there’s no doubt the party is about as corrupt as you can get. But I’m not going blue this time, for those reasons and for the reason that I simply don’t believe the Tories have presented enough of a positive platform. They’ve been stronger in attacking the Liberals, sure, but their policy initiatives haven’t won me over.

Okay, bring it on. I’m ready.

Because this guy doesn’t.

With all the fallout from the sponsorship scandal bringing down the Liberal government, am I the only one who doesn’t want another quick election?

Sure, we can’t just let them get away with such corruption. But what does anyone think would happen with an election? Is there really any chance of a party besides the Liberals getting into power?

Last time, the Bloc nearly swept Quebec. They’d probably do even better this time. The Conservatives might pick up some seats in a new election and the NDP might pick up one or two. But we’d still end up with a Liberal minority government, albeit a somewhat weaker minority than this time. Not much would change. No lessons would be taught.

And the clincher: we’d waste even more taxpayer money. Hundreds of millions on the scandal itself and on the inquiry are already down the toilet. Do we really need to pay for an election, too?

Admittedly, I’m saying this as someone who’s always – grudgingly – voted Liberal, and who probably would again. I’m no big fan of Martin or most of his team but they’re the “least worst” out there right now, sponsorship scandal or not. I’m still a fan of my own riding’s MP, Marlene Jennings. Besides, what’s my alternative, the Bloc?

With the current math of the country, the point is moot and a new election would just be a waste of money. Let’s identify and prosecute the guilty in this scandal and look to weed out this kind of corruption from all our politics, instead of covering it up with just more political finger-pointing.

7:30pm: It’s gonna be a long night. Despite the TV networks’ rush to predict the result first, I doubt anyone will know anything certain for quite some time.

I will update the table above intermittently when candidates are declared elected, but I assume most people will be watching the coverage live. Instead, I’ll post some comments as I go along.

8:15pm: So far, the results for the Liberals aren’t looking nearly as grim as most of the media had been predicting.

They just announced that Scott Brison managed to win his riding – as a Liberal. Very interesting. Unlike a lot of people, I don’t view switching parties as a sign of being a “traitor”, but more as a sign of wanting to stay true to one’s ideals. Some people accused Brison of opportunism, but I think he just found that his values fit better with the Liberal party. Apparently, most voters in his riding agreed.

On the other hand, John Herron, who also switched from the Tories to the Libs, lost to the Conservative candidate in his riding. Win some, lose some.

8:50pm: Bad news for the Conservatives all over Eastern Canada, as they are down in seats and way down in popular vote. The Liberals have done what they needed to do in that part of the country, at any rate. There won’t be much more news until results start to come in from Quebec, Ontario, and Central Canada.

9:10pm: The first Bloc Quebecois MP has been elected, in Gaspésie/Îles-de-la-Madeleine. A sign of things to come in Quebec as a whole? Probably.

9:25pm: Local Conservative Party headquarters in Montreal are in a friggin’ Cage au Sports! That’s hysterical!!!

9:30pm: Polls are now closed in most of the country. Results should start to come in pretty quickly now.

9:45pm: Everyone’s talking about Layton versus Mills in the hotly-contested riding of Toronto-Danforth. But the big story that hasn’t been reported there is that the Conservative Party candidate, a guy with the odd-sounding name of Loftus Cuddy, is the brother of Blue Rodeo’s lead singer Jim Cuddy. (Blue Rodeo’s concert on Saturday at Bourbon Street North was awesome, by the way).

10:05pm: CTV just predicted a Liberal win, though they’re not saying yet whether it will be a majority or a minority.

Remember folks, you heard it here first.

10:15pm: With only 2 out of 205 polls reporting, my riding of NDG-Lachine has been declared a win for incumbent Liberal Marlene Jennings. No surprises there. I knew when I voted for her that it wouldn’t be much of a race.

10:30pm: The media networks are all projecting a Liberal minority now. As happy as I am that the Liberals will be taking it, my relief is tempered by the fact that the NDP might get enough seats to combine with the Liberals for a majority, thus giving the NDP all kinds of undeserved power in government and swinging policies to the far left. I’m crossing my fingers that they’re wrong.

10:45pm: David Pratt, the Liberal minister of defence, was defeated in his riding. Some big-name Liberals are falling to the Tories, but it won’t be enough for Harper’s team to take the reins. The Liberals are still way ahead.

10:50pm: At the moment, using elected and leading totals, it’s looking like Liberals + NDP will combine for enough seats for a majority. Goddammit! This is bad, bad news for Canada.

11:00pm: L. Ian MacDonald is talking about a “Lib-Lab” coalition, and Jack Layton dusting off his shopping list. With the NDP holding the balance of power, this is probably one of the worst-case scenarios that could have emerged. The Liberals had a golden opportunity to move rightward, towards the middle, under Paul Martin. Instead, thanks to the Bloc sweep in Quebec, the party will be forced to move leftward.

11:15pm: It’s all over now but the fat lady singing.

Gilles Duceppe just gave his triumphant victory speech after his sweep in Quebec, and – surprise surprise – is suddenly talking about sovereignty again nonstop (after swearing that this vote was not about separation). I don’t know why this stuff even bothers me anymore, it’s so expected. Still, this is bad news for Quebec.

In the rest of the country, it’s pretty much understood that Paul Martin will govern with Jack Layton’s help. The NDP agenda will be front-and-center, and we can kiss Martin’s fiscally-responsible policies, like debt reduction, goodbye.

The good news is the Liberals won. The bad news is, well, everything else. Unfortunately, I predicted this.

The campaign has been unofficially happening for months, but now it’s official: It’s Election time again.

Let the attack ads, insults, and petty politics begin.

In the meantime, having recently moved out of the riding I’ve voted in my entire adult life, I’ve have been getting a crash course in the politics of my new riding, NDG/Lachine. It’s been educational, to say the least.

For one thing, I’ve discovered that the incumbent candidate is Marlene Jennings, who, from what I know about her, has been one of the Liberals whose views I’ve tended to respect.

Jennings is almost sure to win a third term in office. She is being challenged by candidates from the Bloc, the NDP, and the Green Party. There is no Conservative Party candidate running in my riding, interestingly enough. I’d never voted Conservative (in any of their previous incarnations) before, but if they really wanted me to consider voting for them this time, they should have at least run a candidate.

I still don’t know what I’m going to do come election day. Politically, I tend to diverge with all the major parties on at least some issues I consider critically important. Like a lot of Canadians I’m fed up with the Liberals. Even before the sponsorship scandal, I was getting sick of the waffling on important issues, the pandering to interest groups, the annoying way that the party assumed they were in power forever and didn’t actually have to do anything… But I don’t see too many viable alternatives out there.

I’m sure I’m far from the only person who’s annoyed that there are so few people to vote for. In provincial elections, I always hold my nose and vote Liberal because I’m a federalist and, well, that’s what federalists do. In federal elections, I liked the notion that there were more choices. But it’s starting to seem like the hold-nose-and-vote-Liberal-mantra is going to become more common in federal elections as well.

Somehow, it’s hard to get energized by such a meaningless vote.

The proposed legislation to legalize same-sex marriage may not pass due to a large number of opposed and undecided MPs. And the big debate these days seems to miss the point. A recent poll on the Globe and Mail’s site asked people whether they thought MPs should rely on their personal or religious views, or the views of constituents, when deciding on an issue like gay marriage. 84% said their constituents. But the truth is, neither of these options is right.

What if the issue was whether black people should have the right to attend the same schools as white people? What about a vote on whether women should have equal rights under the law to men? Would it make sense to have politicians adopt law in these cases based on personal views, religious blackmail, or angry groups of racist or sexist constituents? Of course not. Equality under the law is a basic right guaranteed in the Canadian Charter of Rights. And even if an MP lived in a riding where there was a high level of racism and opposition to minority rights, he or she should still do the right thing.

Incidentally, there is a listing at the bottom of this article on where various MPs stand on the vote. And at least one MP is outspoken about her views that rights aren’t decided by a show of hands:

Others who endorse same-sex marriage say it is not a matter of public opinion.

“It is a fundamental issue of human rights,” Montreal MP Marlene Jennings said.

When human rights are decided by popular vote, then the whole notion of equality falls apart. A lot of people say that the supreme court has no place redefining marriage. But I disagree. This is an issue of law. It’s the most basic law we have. As stated in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, section 15, article 1:

Every individual is equal before and under the law and has the right to the equal protection and equal benefit of the law without discrimination and, in particular, without discrimination based on race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, sex, age or mental or physical disability.

Even if sexual orientation isn’t specifically listed as an “in particular” category, neither is it precluded from the definition. Every individual is equal before and under the law. It’s a right we cherish as Canadians. It’s time we started applying that like we mean it, even to people we may disagree with.