Phendrana Drifts

I enter this federal election in a unique place for myself - I'm unattached and actually need to be convinced to vote for someone. Being a an active participant in the political process for 10 years usually I'm volunteering and convincing others to vote one way or another, but I had decided this summer to take a sojourn away from politics. So I've decided to chronicle my own personal decision on whom to vote for here on my blog, partly in an effort to provide structure and impetus to blog, partly just to make sure I give this the proper thought. Today's section will be an outline of the context and where I already am at, who I am, where my riding is, and how I make decisions like this.

1. Who I Am: It takes about one minute to sift through this blog to discover I'm somewhat right of the Canadian centre and have voted Conservative in every federal election since I've turned 18 - Progressive Conservative in 1997 and 2000; Conservative Party of Canada in 2004 and 2006. That said, I'm open. Later posts will chronicle what issues I care about the most and the positions of the parties and candidates I agree with most, but to provide the overview on most political ideological surveys I come out fairly fiscally conservative (bordering on libertarian) and very socially progressive - however given how I've voted and participated politically it might be safe to say the fiscal position tends to trump my social values. Then again, this might be the election that shifts.

2. Where I Vote: I live in the riding of Edmonton-Spruce Grove, which has been represented by the Honourable Rona Ambrose for the entirety of its existence since the boundary redistribution before the 2004 election. The nominated candidates (to date) are:

Hon. Rona Ambrose (Conservative) - www.ronaambrose.com
Chris Austin (Liberal) - convoluted liberal link
Barb Phillips (NDP) - www.ndp.ca/page/321

So far, neither the Bloc Quebecois or the Green Party have nominated a candidate in Edmonton-Spruce Grove, and I'm too lazy to look up the fringe parties.

5. The National Campaign and Me: It doesn't take a political scientist (although if it did, fortunately one of my two degrees covers that off) to know that in Canada party discipline is almost extreme, so it matters what the national campaign does almost more than the local campaign, given that as a rule my MP will obey the will of the national caucus over local concerns. I don't mean to denigrate the role of the MP but anyone who says they vote for the person over the party is missing the majority of the picture.

This does affect the decision in multiple ways, and well beyond simply which party's platform I agree most with. It begs questions like "Do I want my MP to sit in the government caucus or an opposition caucus?" and "Which leader do I want representing my vote in a minority or majority parliament?" Given Canada's party finance system I also grant the party with my vote funding and status (although a single vote is a very tiny amount) - which I'm happy to say makes voting for parties that are unlikely to win my riding still palatable. Which is a big deal in my case since the Conservatives are very likely to win, although I hope Minister Ambrose isn't counting her chickens before they hatch.

4. Timeline and Limitations: I have until the morning of October 14 to figure this out, and there are some limits on what the decision can be. First, I'm voting. Even if I decide I hate all the choices, I'm not skipping out on my right and responsibility. I've only ever spoiled a ballot in the Alberta Senate election (and have each time I've been asked to vote in that) and I doubt I will be willing to do that this time around.

Much of this series will be dicatated by the national and local campaigns - their issues and media cycles - but in an effort to provide some structure, here is an outline of what the series will certainly cover during the 36 day election campaign:

Week 1: Establishing the issues that mean the most to me
Week 2: Evaluation of MP and national party performance since 2004
Week 3: Evaluating the party leaders, Edmonton-Spruce Grove profile
Week 4: Evaluating party platforms
Week 5: Decision-making

Labels: federal election, federal politics

3 Comments:

At 5:11 PM, Toby said…

Somehow, I have a feeling I know how this is going to end...
At 6:39 PM, Allie said…

I'm not really into this election either.

This election I'm more concered with safe communities (toough crime stances), national security (and supporting our troops), northern sovereignty, moving forward on the environment issues (especially water), stimulating the economy and NOT raising our taxes.

I am totally concerned that a certain party not only thinks that raising taxes is such a good idea that they based their campaign launch on a new tax, but also have promised to reverse the tax cuts made by the current government. So I guess that eliminates one party from contention. The others better get busy convincing me!
At 7:24 AM, Duncan said…

I am really trying not to prejudice the results, but I can say Ms. Barb Phillips has an uphill battle.

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