Vote Dammit!!

Ok this is going to be a rant.

... and if I've offended some of my dear friends... well I maintain my position.

VOTE DAMMIT!!!

We have a federal election coming up on JANUARY 23, 2006!!!

Some of the more popular excuses include total apathy, a lack of knowledge, or pure frustration. So, I'm going to help. I've put together a couple of very handy websites that in a few clicks you can go from apathetic to informed.

Some of the ‘hot topics’ on the table include healthcare, education, childcare, defense spending… foreign debt forgiveness (think Live 8 Concert and Africa), taxes, and employment insurance. The undercurrent of “Good Christian values” is also very prevalent with topics such as gay marriage, decriminalization of marijuana and sex industry issues.

Between every mom, daycare worker, student, farmer, military personnel, engineer, activist, stripper, cancer patient, logger, teacher, homosexual couple, nurse, and unemployed fisherman I know…

From the care your loved one receives in Emergency, to the tuition you pay, to the rights to love and marriage you chose, to the drug and treatment options available, to the survival of industries such as pulp and paper, fisheries, softwood lumber, and petroleum… everyone I know is in some way touched by national politics. Yet a mere 45% of Canadian voters actually vote. WHY!?!?

VOTE DAMMIT!!!
We live in a country where we have the freedom to vote. We have a responsibility to our community and our country. I do have serious concerns about the current campaign, and the fear-based rhetoric being used to discriminate. I do worry about the detrimental effects of faith based arguments that deliberately hinder the rights of individuals and facets of society. I do maintain that trickle-down economics do not work, and that "The state has no place in the bedrooms of the nation." (Pierre Elliott Trudeau, Dec. 22, 1967). I do believe that everyone has the right to proper medical care regardless of income, and that children require proper education and care. Those are some of the reasons I will vote. What are yours?

“All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.”

The following quotes are from the “Vote by Issue” quiz. Fine. You’re uninformed. You don’t watch the debates, or read the papers. This quiz compiles the party leaders’ views on election issues without attaching the names. Simply agree or disagree with each issue and see who you agree with at the end.

http://www.votebyissue.org/cbc/

"Increase the child tax benefit, close tax loopholes for large businesses and take the GST off family "essentials" such as children's clothing, books and medicine."

"Canada must honour its commitment to devote 0.7 per cent of GDP to foreign aid and forgive debts owed by developing nations. "

"Spend $5 billion over five years in the budget for a national early learning and child-care program. "

"Attach conditions to funding to ensure any future investment goes only to the public health-care system. "

"Provide more front-line personnel and less administration, and increase defense spending to the NATO European average as a percentage of GDP. "

CBC provides daily updates on election campaigns, party platforms, and local ridings. Of course Elections Canada has all the necessary logistics and details.

http://www.cbc.ca/canadavotes/

http://www.elections.ca/home.asp?textonly=false

Oh, I’m fabulously helpful.