#Canadavotes

[theleftycanadianradical]

Liberal / Tory same old story!

[queenraiden]

It's election time in Canada, again. Go vote!

So back in October of 2019, Canada re-elected Justin Trudeau as Prime Minister; however, with a minority (as in winning the most seats but not enough to cross the 170-seat majority threshold). Having a minority government means having to work with the other parties in order to get bills passed. If the opposition parties all vote against the ruling party on let's say the budget then it's off to an election.

But that's not the case here.

With the election that's gonna be happening September 20, 2021, what we have is a snap election, which basically can be called at any time, and usually when there's a chance that the election will give the ruling party a majority if not more seats. Considering that we're in the midst of a pandemic it'd be great if the election were held when it's supposed to (assuming pandemic is over by then) in October 2023 I believe, but that's not usually up to us but the people we elect.

So wait? What's the point of this?

My initial ramblings aside, my message here as with my previous one from the previous election time message is more or less the same:

GO VOTE IN THE ELECTION!

Why should you? It's so we don't have a worse situation than we have now. Also, if millennials and gen z combined make up the largest voting block, they have the power to turn the tide. Also, we're stuck with a first past the post system where if the vote is split between the Liberals and Conservatives in your riding, and one of the parties wins with not even 50% of eligible voters, that candidate for that party will win even though the rest of eligible voters who voted did not want them to win.

Think of being a group of 6 people ordering 1 pizza with a choice between pepperoni and plain cheese, 4/6 people are vegetarian, and out of the 4 vegetarians only one votes for the cheese while the other 3 don't care because they're not eating pizza. In the end, the group ends up ordering pepperoni and vegetarian who wanted pizza doesn't get any because they don't eat meat. The most sensible solution would be to order both the pepperoni and the cheese pizza, but that would only happen if we had proportional representation. So, if you want to have cheese pizza, which everyone can eat, make sure to vote or else you get no pizza.

Whom should I vote for?

If you have no idea which party to vote for, I suggest using the vote compass. All you do is answer questions and based on where you stand on certain issues you will be matched with a party that closely aligns to your values. It's quicker than reading each individual platform for Liberal, New Democrats (NDP), Conservative, People's Party of Canada (PPC), and Green (and certain parties like Bloc Quebecois and the newly-formed Maverick are regional parties you can ignore if they're not running in your area).

If it's your first time voting, I suggest not going with the candidate your parents are voting for unless you too also agree with that candidate. If you're voting as a new Canadian for the first time, I don't think I need to convince you to vote but definitely do take the time to see where you stand in relation to our political parties.

Regarless whether it's your 1st or 10th election you've participated in, keep in mind vote splitting. Think back to the pizzas and this time a group of 7 with 3 options instead of 2. Three people want pepperoni, 2 want cheese, and 2 want veggie deluxe. Because you have 2 people wanting the veggie deluxe instead of cheese, pepperoni still wins. It's risky to split the vote especially if you're left-leaning and don't want the right-leaning candidate to win, but who knows? You may have more than 1 right-leaning candidate and that might split votes as well.

Now that I know whom I'm voting for, how do I vote for them? I also don't want to catch/spread COVID-19

Polling stations will still be a thing, and you can vote there on advanced polling days, or on election day. You can also vote in advance at your riding's elections office up until voting day.

Can't get to the polls? Don't want the hassle of putting on a mask? Maybe you have COVID-19 and don't want to infect others? Maybe you don't want to catch it and spread it to others? Sign up for a mail-in ballot. All you need is a scanned piece of ID, the form filled out online, and within a week you'll get a small package of your ballot, instructions, and a few envelopes.

To find out things like where your polling stations are located, who your candidates are in your riding (and even what your riding is), the Elections Canada site is your place to go. It definitely has all the info you need for this and any future elections.

So, whether you like how the Liberals are handling the country or you want to see some change by voting for another party, just get out there and vote! You still have a voice and a vote in the election is one way to express yourself. Keep in mind that when you vote, vote wisely.

[el-trotamundos]

I’m relieved the anti-choice Conservatives were kept from forming a government last night. They would have implemented huge cuts in social services and restricted access to abortion and other reproductive healthcare. 

Now it’s time for the Liberals, NDP and Greens to make good on their promises of universal pharmacare and expanded abortion access. It is no longer good enough for our politicians to say that they support the right to choose; they must ensure that the options to choose from are actually available across Canada.

Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada is calling on the new government to:

Enforce the Canada Health Act by ensuring that all provinces and territories make abortion care fully accessible throughout their regions. In particular, requiring New Brunswick and Ontario to fully fund abortion in all facilities that provide them, including private clinics and practices.

Ensure greater availability of the abortion pill Mifegymiso, and support provinces to expand the number of prescribing family doctors, permit nurse practitioners and midwives to prescribe the drug, and facilitate the use of telemedicine so that patients do not have to travel outside their communities.

Implement universal coverage of contraception, in particular free contraceptive access for youths as recommended by the Canadian Pediatric Agency.

Continue its role as a global leader in funding sexual and reproductive healthcare in developing countries, including safe abortion.

[canadarama]

how on earth are american campaigns so long like canada just started our election period and we vote on october 21

[smoulderingocean]

Saw this in Calgary today. I’m glad not everyone here is a mindless Tory drone. Scheer really scares me and I’m praying he loses the election. 

[canadavotes]

Have you registered to vote yet?

[ensignmore]

Got my voters card in the mail & bought me a new succulent! #canadavotes #canadavotes2019 #registertovote #canpoli #succulents #succulentsofinstagram https://www.instagram.com/p/B29hdxJFQOx/?igshid=1mgobrnwsagov

[jlmhopper]

[theroadbuildinggeek]

Why not Trudeau for PM again? Ask Trudeau about these things

Your minister of finance engaged in insider trading – should be a 10 year sentence.

You blew the Asia Pacific deal.

You blew the helicopter deal with the Philippines.

You blew the pipeline deal (he's now trying to save himself from it).

You blew the deal with China.

You blew the deal with Europe.

You invited "irregular" immigration and the taxpayer foots the enormous bill for it.

You alienated the United States – our largest trading partner.

At the G7 you pledged $400 million to Education around the world along with another $180 million to the Global Partnership for Education in Europe. None of it is going to fix our messed up school systems here at home. Meanwhile education costs are skyrocketing for our youth making university a mountain too high for many to climb.

You pledged $241 million to Family Planning around the world including a $20 million donation to the Bill and Hillary Clinton Foundation (because they have integrity!). This all happened while you told vets that they were asking too much.

You pledged $2.65 billion to climate change at the Commonwealth Leaders Summit and now you’re trying to bully the provinces into new taxes to pay for this pledge.

You pledged $300 million to the Rohingya Refugee crisis while we have a refugee crisis of our own flooding into Quebec that you won't address.

You pledged $125 million to Caribbean Reconstruction while our own infrastructure in cities is falling apart.

You pledged $650 million to Sexual and Reproductive health in Haiti and around the globe wanting safer abortions for woman while many women in our own country are left without a family doctor.

You pledged $50 million to Palestine for flood relief when NB had some of the worst flooding in decades this past spring.

You pledged $840 million to Syria for Humanitarian Assistance when half the native reserves in our country don't have clean drinking water.

You gave $10.5 million to a convicted...CONVICTED terrorist in a backroom deal that has lead to another $30.8 million paid out for three others who say they were wrongfully detained.

You spent $4.5 billion on a 65 year old pipeline, and now the courts have ruled it shut down. Now it's back on (at a delay cost of $250 million) - good investment for Canada you said? (And KM uses that money to build a pipeline in Texas)

You pressured Jody Wilson Raybould repeatedly & INAPPROPRIATELY with several different high ranking officials to offer SNC Lavalin a DPA instead of prosecution for repeated & sustained corruption AFTER the former AG had determined they were ineligible for such a deal. You lied about the above having ever taken place.

You replaced Canada’s old F-18s with Australia’s old F-18s.

Your bizarre love of all things Castro.

You imposed tough regulations and taxes on oil from Alberta, Saskatchewan and Newfoundland but not oil from Saudi Arabia.

Every new project has to undergo strict environmental assessments...except cement plants in Quebec.

You said that a proposed pipeline must consider “the intersection of sex and gender with other identity factors” (what does that even mean???)

You think older Canadians should be replaced. How is that moral?

You chase foreign companies (and their investment capital) out of the country like they have the plague.

You chased our WW1 soldiers out of our national anthem... lest we forget.

You continuously use identity politics...then complain about identity politics.

You forgot Alberta was a province.

You called small business owners “tax cheats”.

People voice concern over money spent on illegal immigration and you call them intolerant racists.

We have an equalization program, but you give half of it to one province.

You spent $8 million on a skating rink (vanity project) when Canada's largest skating rink is 500 meters away.

You added tens of billions added to the national debt while lying to Canada's face about it.

You groped a woman and when caught - laughed about it (MacLean's interview) and said she experienced it differently.

You elbowed a female MP while dragging another MP by the arm in a petulant huff.

You renamed Fishermen to "Fisher-folk"

Peoplekind? (international embarrassment)

You got India to invest $250 million in Canada but we have to invest $750 million in India first.

You compared returning ISIS terrorists to Italian immigrants and said they will be an extraordinary powerful voice for Canada.

You let terrorists keep their Canadian citizenship.

You spent $212,234 on artwork for the cover of the 2017 budget report.

You think Canada is 100 years old instead of 150.

You spent upwards to $348,000 on food and alcohol in five flights on our government’s plane. On your G20 trip to Argentina, you spent $103,000 on food and alcohol alone. How is that even possible?

You gave Canadian taxpayers' money to Hamas.

You voice outrage over fake racist attacks and say nothing about real terrorist attacks.

You took 10 vacations in a single year. Who does this??

You spent a little over $1.5 million on the trip to India that did nothing but worsen ties. Plus paid over $17,000 to bring an Indian chef to India to cook Indian cuisine. And to top it off, invited a convicted attempted assassin to diner and posed for pics with him.

And you’re the only PM convicted of ethics violations. (multiple times in fact)

You allegedly destroyed the career of one of Canada’s honest military leaders to cover up possible massive corruption in ship building contracts.

You invited Joshua Boyle, an alleged perpetrator of sexual assault and unlawful confinement for a photoshoot in the Office of The Prime Minister.

You threaten to sue the leader of the opposition then chicken out when you realized that your alleged crimes will be exposed in court.

You offer over $600 million dollars in subsidies to failing mainstream media outlets if they can prove to be trustworthy. You put a union who vows to destroy your opposition in charge of selecting these new “trusted” sources to receive funding. You could school the Russians in election interference.

You pay off your friends to engage in election ads for you and get Elections Canada to pay for it.

$200 million to Loblaws for new refrigerators.

You made public statements of deep admiration for Chinese communism.

You wore preposterous costumes during a state visit to India.

What moral, functioning Canadian human could possible justify voting for you?

[onpowderedgrounds]

Good luck Canada - stay progressive

[imalwaysoutdoors]

Nothing goes with Thanksgiving dinner quite like a slice of civic duty! Along with well over 2 million Canadians, Sacha and I voted in advanced polls on Monday, did you? If not, you'll have to vote on election day, Monday October 21st. Polls are open from 8:30am to 8:30pm. To check if you're registered to vote, and where your polling station is head to elections.ca #elxn43 #canpoli #vote #canadavotes #makeyourvoiceheard https://www.instagram.com/p/B3pKbmLHVgI/?igshid=vq4mbp91o6aa

[theleftycanadianradical]

So gullible. O'Toole is even worse than Trudeau.

[queenraiden]

GET OUT AND VOTE!

I know I don’t have much influence here, but I’m counting this as a message in a bottle in hopes this reaches some people.

On October 21, 2019, Canadians will be heading to the polls to select our next prime minister, or keep our incumbent. Millennials make up the largest voting block, but aren’t exactly motivated to make the vote. Lack of interest in politics? No confidence in current party leaders? Issues not of concern? Whatever your reason not to, here’s one reason why you should vote:

VOTER TURNOUT

Last election in 2015, the voter turnout was around 68%. It’s a fairly high number but it could be higher. Basically, out of the total population of eligible voters (which is about 75% of the population of Canada), those who showed up to vote decided for the 32% who did not. Not that bad of a number, but it could be worse.

Take Ontario for example. The most recent provincial election had a voter turnout of 57%, which is a little more than half of eligible voters in the province. Provincial elections may not draw out that much, but think about that number. If more people showed up to vote then Doug Ford may not have won. There’s also the chance he would have won still with a higher turnout, but it’d be a fairer outcome as it would’ve shown that a majority of the province really wanted him in power. 

Think of it this way: I am hosting a dinner party for 8 and I ask them to tell me what food to serve and activities to do. Only 3 people respond saying they want pepperoni pizza and charades. Day of the party arrives and the 5 who didn’t respond aren’t happy as they don’t eat pizza (a couple of them vegetarian and don’t want pepperoni) and aren’t fans of playing charades. 

This is what happens with the first past the post system we have. Someone who doesn’t have the majority of votes can win because they have more votes than the other candidate.

But I don’t trust any of the people in power

Think of it as picking the lesser of 5 or 6 evils (Bloc Quebecois only exists in Quebec. For the rest of Canada it’s between Liberal, Conservative, NDP, Green, and People’s Party of Canada). The never-ending cycle of politics is a party gets elected, they make a mess of things, next elected party comes to clean it up but previous party passes the blame of their mess onto the incumbent party. Then there’s also party in power introduces something, opposition parties block it while at the same time blame the incumbents for not getting anything done. 

From the 5 or 6 major parties you can read the condensed version of their platforms (or news reports if they don’t have one posted yet) and watch/listen to debates. If the reading is too much, there are political compass sites like “I Side With” or the CBC’s Vote Compass, maybe even this site that usually shows up first on Google. From there you can decide what may be the best party for you.

There’s also the option of voting for the smaller parties or independent candidates. Even if they have no chance of forming government, these individuals can support major parties in voting of bills and can introduce their own as well (in hopes the major parties will debate them). With the independents, they’re not tied to any party and can vote with their own conscience and not be necessarily whipped into voting for something they and their constituents aren’t in favour of.

Okay, but that doesn’t really help me decide for whom I should vote

I’m gonna go with the cliched saying of “go with your gut”. After looking through what information you find on election issue that matter to you or filling out that vote compass you make that choice. Do not let name-calling politicians tell you who is worse for Canada. Pundits may have their opinions but they’re not always ones you share. Mom and dad may be staunch voters of one party but you don’t have to vote for them. The vote is your voice and no one can take that away from you (Can’t vote in this one? Vote in the next election!). People in jail can vote, but we don’t live in a society where people are jailed for voting for the wrong party (yet). If you want to vote with your conscience, you do that. If you want to vote strategically, you do that. 

Now that I’ve decided, how do I go about this voting thing?

I’ve linked to parts of the Elections Canada and that’s the main site for anything federal elections related, including ways to vote and where you can vote. 

If you can’t make voting day, you can go vote in advanced polls (which are on the weekend I post this). These can be less crowded so you’re not stuck in a long line waiting to vote. If you work during the day, they are open on the weekend (though on election day, you are allotted time to vote. It’s the law!). Advanced polls also allow you to get it done and over with

If you’re stuck with having to go on election day, the times that are less crowded would be mid-morning before lunch, and early afternoon before parents pick up their kids from school (doesn’t matter if your polling station is not at a school, a school may be nearby). All polling station have to be accessible and if you need assistance polling place staff will help you. And that’s what I’ll say for now. Enough of my ramblings and go vote!

By the way, your vote is secret so no sharing of the ballot on social media because it’s illegal

[fancykraken]

Be like me and GO VOTE! If you couldn't get to the early polls go vote October 21st! There is very little excuse not to. Let's not make the baby boomer generation the highest voter turnout again. Share your voice! 🇨🇦📣🗳 #canada #elxn43 #canadaelection2019 #election2019 #vote #canadavotes https://www.instagram.com/p/B3n8VCpBOnT/?igshid=fybewq2a02s7

[yegfoodie]

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A post shared by YEGfoodie | Rebecca Reid (@yegfoodie)

REPOST • @sportsmansyeg No matter how the election turns out, we can all agree that we could use more money in our pockets. Remeber to get out and vote then drop by Sportsman's Pub to get half off appetizers and a pint of Coors Banquet, just $5.00 for 20oz. . . . . #elxn43 #canadavotes #coorsbanquet #appetizers #food #yegfood #halfoffmondays #drinks #election #canadaelection2019 #yeg #edmonton #edmontonfood #community https://www.instagram.com/p/B351DJmgyOP/?igshid=b6va7xfqc0bt

[tawshadawn]

Did you vote today?? ⠀ It’s your right!! ⠀ Seriously friends. YOUR VOTE MATTERS! If you’ve never voted before.. today is your day to have your opinion heard!! It’s super easy and doesn’t take much time. And think about it, diversity matters. Different voices and experiences and backgrounds help shape our amazing country to be what it is. Imagine how even more amazing our country would be if EVERYONE VOTED! ⠀ ⠀ And if you think your “one” vote won’t count.. you’re wrong. Your vote could help determine between a majority or a minority government, which is huge in how our country is shaped. We all have the opportunity to drive change.⠀ ⠀ Your vote WILL affect your future! Canada needs your vote. ❤️🇨🇦❤️⠀ #canadavotes #proudlycanadian (at Edmonton, Alberta) https://www.instagram.com/p/B35SLO5AYj8/?igshid=1ic8oc4xl93ax