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| quote: | | The argument against voting for the Greens in the above scenario goes something like this: If you vote for the Greens, and the Conservatives are neck to neck with the Liberals, then you risk having the Conservatives in power and you've wasted your vote. |
No, the problem with the Green party is they simply have no chance of winning. Just look at the 2004 election results, the Green party wasn't even able to win one seat - not even ONE.
| quote: | | If you truly believe in the Green party platform, you owe yourself and democracy a favour to vote according to your principles. For those that say, yes, but not now because [...], I say when? There's never a "good" time, so I choose to vote my conscious now. |
In an idealistic world, I'd completely agree with you. But, Canada is the furthest thing from an idealistic world and so I'd have to disagree with you on this point. Yes, we do owe it to democracy and to ourselves to vote according to our principles, but, realistically by doing this we could elect a party who would most likely destroy everything the Liberal party had been working towards.
| quote: | | Secondly, with enough votes, the Green party will have seats represented in parliament (if they pass that magical threashold), so the vote would not be a waste, since our democracy is not a zero-sum game (unlike our neighbours to the South). |
Operative word here: (if they pass that magical threashold)
So as it stands at this day and time, a vote for the Green party would still be a wasted vote.
| quote: | | Furthermore, the Liberals would probably still be the main opposition, so the Conservatives would probably lead a minority government, which wouldnt last more than a couple of years, so we wouldn't be doomed. |
This would be fine and dandy, but it still relies on the law being
passed.
| quote: | | Finally, in this specific case, voting Liberal would reward them for their corruption scandals. If the Conservatives get into power, then that will teach the Liberals to shape up next time, or face similar consequences. Thus, by not voting Liberal and voting Green, you're sending a dual message: a message about your personal preference for platforms (Green over Liberal), but also a message about government accountability. This implies that you're willing to live with the Conservatives for a while despite their sickening agenda, which sends an extremely powerful message to our pathetic politicians that currently run the show in Ottawa. |
So... let's damn the country for the next few years in hopes that the Liberals will finally learn their lesson and shape up? I don't seem to understand how this adds up.
In addition, you'd still probably have the same amount of snakes in the Conservative caucus, I mean damn, just look at Harper.
| quote: | | Change has to start somewhere and sometime, so why not here and now? |
If only it were so easy, Epicurus. I for one think the Liberals have already learned their lesson and have cleaned up their act. I just don't think anyone or anything could justify me voting for a party with no chance at winning (not even ONE seat,) or another who would destroy what we know of Canada.
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Go Green, although NDP is always agreat second option.
