I’m back on the old blog page (first time since my second son was born) and need to talk about the upcoming election.
Although this election was heralded as the “same ole same ole” this one is shaping up to be a doozy. Less than one week away and there seems to be more interest in getting out to vote as the advance poll numbers show.
My own thoughts on who I should vote for are all over the map. A friend from school, Damian Konstantinakos, is running for the Conservatives in the riding next to mine, and would probably consider voting for him just because I know he is a good guy. He is from the high tech sector, so would hopefully help get some high tech questions heard on the hill. But alas I am not in his riding, and I know he faces an uphill battle in that riding.
Meanwhile, despite my well wishes for Damian, I am not impressed with either Stephen Harper, or his bulldog running in our riding, John Baird. John Baird will not be getting my vote in this election–case closed. The man’s main job seems to be to shout down any opposition in the house.
Anita Vandenbeld has the best chance to defeat Baird in this traditionally Liberal riding, and there seems to be some good support for her despite waining support for Ignatieff. How badly do I want to see Baird defeated? I must admit it might be nice but I have to really think about this. Ottawa West-Nepean has a very large population of seniors and Anita is definitely pandering her message to them (but in a way all of them are). Also interesting is that she is a career politician, with a Political Science degree–actually something I don’t like in politicians. But she has been very active in talking with many people in the community for a while, especially down the road at the Carlingwood Mall.
Marlene Rivier is a public sector union local president, so I don’t believe a good choice for me. I must admit that Jack Layton is certainly doing the best job of all the leaders in presenting a clear message and with limited amounts of attack ads. Someday maybe the NDP could entice me, but there is always the fear of a government grown too large.
Mark MacKenzie of the Green Party is actually an intriguing choice for me. He is a small business owner (Appleseed snow-blowing plus organic farming) which I think is a plus. He should have a better understanding of small businesses and the importance to the economy. He is obviously for environmental sustainability with Appleseed using bio-diesel (that includes discarded vegetable oil). He was part of the group that helped ban commercial pesticides in the city of Ottawa (a plus), and he has also said some encouraging things about high-tech. Unfortunately he has no chance of winning the seat. Would a vote for Green be wasted in this case? I still maintain that we need to change the first-past-the-post system and get more proportional representation (interesting article here on election reform). Make every vote count!
So I still have some thinking to do: Vandenbeld or MacKenzie? Liberal or Green?
We’ll see on May 2nd!
