So now we get seven weeks of Conservative attack ads, spreading lies and making the Canadian people even more uninformed than they have been. And they won’t be countered by much in the way of coalition ads, because neither the Liberals nor the NDP have much money. Happy holidays!
Through this ordeal, I’ve been struck at how little Canadians know about their own political processes. In the October elections Stephen Harper received exactly 38,545 votes out of a total 13,669,857 cast. And yet I hear local people telling TV reporters that “we voted for Harper.” No, nobody at all in Halifax voted for Harper.
Maybe they mean they voted for the Conservative party. Fine, but the Conservatives received just 37.63 percent of the vote; the coalition and their allies received 63.37 percent, the majority.
But Harper will no doubt spin this as an American-style election for president, and not parliamentary democracy in action.
It’s sad that this will have such traction, and speaks to the poor state of civics education in this country.
This article appears in Dec 4-10, 2008.
If you have ever been active in a Federal or NS election you will know that most people actually vote for a party leader. How many times did I hear ‘ I’m voting for…Trudeau/Buchanan/Mulroney/Chretien’Ask any pollster. I think your piece speaks to your poor state of understanding what voters do. I bet not one journalist or commentator in this country has knocked on more than 6 doors during any election. get off your high horse Tim , get outside your comfort zone maybe even go to one of the snr citizens homes and ask them what they think.What really annoys me is TV crews going to Spring Garden Road to ask middle class people what they think on a particular subject. They never go to Bedford, Sackville, Truro, Dartmouth, Spryfield,. Gottingen steet, etc.I don’t believe you wanted Dion for PM, you are smarter than that.
Nobody in Halifax voted for Dion either, or for Layton. Your response speaks to the problem: voters don’t understand what they’re voting for. *They* don’t pick the prime minister, or even the party that governs, except indirectly. You can agree with the coalition taking power or not, but they are acting within the rules of the system, and democratically.