[Still figuring out the Tumblr app … this was supposed to post on IWD2021].
Like the USA, Canada has a #WinnerTakeAll voting system, which makes it harder for people 3rd parties to get elected. But Canadians have stubbornly retained our multi-party system, because 2 parties aren’t enough to represent our diversity.
Many Canadians have long realized the Green Party is the best choice, but now more of us are voting Green, so more of us are electing Greens, too.
Ours is the only major Canadian federal political party to be led by women since 2006, something worthy of mention for the 2021 International Women’s Day.
And you know things are changing when Prince Edward Island— a province that has steadfastly clung to 2 party rule for its whole existence— elected its first Green in one election, and liked what they got so much elected another in the next by-election, then elected 8 Greens in the last general election. It was enough to form the province’s Official Opposition and reduce the ruling Liberals to third party status.
Best of all, 5 of the new MLAs are women, making this Opposition Party a majority of women. And as there are only 2 other women elected to the 27 member Legislative Assembly, the Green women form a majority of womem in the legislature!
Tomorrow — Monday October 26th, 2020 — is #ElectionDay in two Toronto ridings.
Newly elected Green Party of Canada leader Annamie Paul is running to win the Toronto Centre seat vacated by former Liberal Finance Minister Bill Morneau (amidst WE scandal ethics questions) . Annamie is both a brilliant candidate and an excellent choice to represent this, her home riding.
Photographer Sasha Zavarella is running in York Centre, where another Canadian National Party Leader — this time Peoples Party of Canada’s Maxime Bernier.
Neither of these by-Elections will change the balance of power in Ottawa.
That means voters are free to vote for what they want — they don’t have to worry vote splitting will result in the party they fear winning majority power.
Since by-Elections historically have poor attendance at the best of times (and a pandemic is surely not one of those times!) fewer votes cast means these votes will have more weight. This is a brilliant opportunity for voters in these formerly safe seats whose votes never elect anyone to cast a vote that may be heard. Greens across Canada are rooting for Annamie, because the sooner our leader can take her seat in Parliament the better we’ll be able to hold the government to account.
It is important to remember the other big parties “whip” MP votes, which means their MPs represent their party first, because, if they don’t, they can lose party support which invariably means losing their seat. Whipped votes used to be a rarity, but in recent times they have become the default for NDP, Liberal and Conservative MPs.
Green MPs differ from other major party MPs because first and foremost they represent the constituents of their ridings. If there is a conflict between what is best for their riding or what’s best for the party, the best interest of their constiuents come first. Always.
If you live in either of these two ridings, your vote for Annamie or Sasha will mean something. We’ve seen what an impact Mike Schreiner has made as a single Green MPP. Electing another Liberal will just be more of the same old. But Greens will always make a difference.
And we can give our votes more power if we can convince our friends and families to vote too.
Even in our terribly unrepresentative voting system, voting is incredibly important. Even our vote is unlikely to change the outcome, it puts our choice on the record.
If you live in one of these ridings, please vote tomorrow. (And make sure to wear a mask when you do!) It is so important — and perhaps even more important:
VOTE FOR WHAT YOU WANT.
(Even if you don’t want what I want.)
If enough of us vote for what we want, we might just get it. And Annamie has an excellent chance of winning this one.
New GPC Leader Annamie Paul’s press conference on why Greens will not support the Throne Speech.
Government failure to adequately address Long Term Care, properly provide for all Canadians with a UBI, and jeopardizing the future by failing to address climate change.
Green Party Leadership candidate Amita Kuttner entertaining their team with a bit of opera. Not what one might expect of an astrophysicist *or* a politician.
The article provides a detailed example of how ranked ballot voting works when electing a party leader to delight electoral system nerds. All the rest of us need do is read the opening summary and the conclusion at the end.
All 8 of these Leadership contestants have inspiring visions & proposals for our
party but at the end of the day it’s up to our grassroots - our members
- to decide what path we take.
PS Know someone who should be a member? Make sure they sign up before Sept. 3 at midnight so they can make history with us, too! greenparty.ca/join
The Green Party of Canada is choosing a new leader. If you’ve been leaning green, join the party by Thursday, September 3rd, and you’ll be able to vote in October’s election.
In 1907, Charles Morgan of Broome Station sent this telegram to Henry Prinsep, the Chief Protector of Aborigines for Western Australia, in Perth: “Send cask arsenic exterminate aborigines letter will follow.”
Australia’s program of genocide was based on the official doctrine of terra nullius, in whose name the first people of Australia were slaughtered and subjected to humiliations, depredations, and worse.
As terrible as the Australian genocide was, its very existence has been widely agreed-upon for quite some time – in this regard, the Australians are significantly ahead of Canada, which admitted its own genocide less than a year ago.
COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA POSTMASTER-GENERAL’S DEPARTMENT, WESTERN AUSTRALIA
20 JUL 07
TELEGRAM from Broome Station Addressed to H. Princep Esq, prot. of aborigines
Send cask arsenic exterminate aborigines letter will follow
Today is the last day Canadians can participate in the online consultation. Please participate, even if it is only to tell the government to repeal Bill C-51
