To the Editor:
Voting strategically is definitely not my first choice, but for this election I will make an exception. In this election, voters in our riding can re-elect a government that promotes racism to get votes, that gags and fires scientists whose findings contradict a resource extraction approach to the economy, that shows contempt for democracy by silencing debate in Parliament, that has cheated in previous elections and that has fired employees who oppose an unsafe nuclear reactor. And this is the short list. It doesn’t include sabotaging efforts to deal with climate change, refusing to sign a United Nations declaration that designates clean water as a human right, shutting down women’s and minority advocacy groups and promoting an economic action plan which benefits only the super rich. Or, we can vote strategically and take another riding from the Harper government.
The other day in the Overwaitea parking lot, I talked to a woman who operates from a hardened partisan position and who was determined to vote as she has always done. She said she votes for the guy in Ottawa, and she didn’t mean Stephen Harper. In the past, this approach might not have been an essentially harmful choice, but in this election, it is. In this riding we have a chance to take a seat away from the Harper government by voting NDP. It is our only chance to do that. The NDP and the Conservatives are running neck and neck.
So, I say to anyone who has not drunk the Conservative Kool-Aid, if you don’t vote NDP in this riding, you are voting for Harper. Is that what you want? If not, drop all partisan and leadership preferences and make a vote that has the possibility of bringing democracy back to Canada. Vote NDP.
That’s what I’m doing. I am voting strategically for a local candidate who is not my first choice, and for a party leader who is not my first choice. If the Harper government falls, I look forward to voting my heart in future elections.
Creston
