Tomorrow is election day. I urge you all to vote for who you want to vote for. Don’t vote for one party over your preferred party to keep another out. Vote for who you want to win. (Need I remind you that each vote does count, and in fact counts $1.75 into the party coffers that you vote for?) Choose your Canada. (For those Undecided, the Globe’s Platform Breakdown)
All the major Canadian media will be covering it. I think I’ll be watching CTV and checking the Globe and Mail. If you need a ride to the polls, call one of the local party offices and they will be glad to pick you up and drive you there, regardless of who you vote for. Also remember that your employer is entitles to give you 3 consecutive hours off to go and vote. It doesn’t take very much of your time, but it does make a difference.
I hope that all people I know who are eligible will go vote. Getting involved in politics, or just even being informed is a civic responsibility. Yesterday I went to Kitchener to a Liberal rally with 2 of my roommates (note: just because they were there doesn’t mean they are Liberals). The Prime Minister was present for this rally (why we picked it). Unfortunately we never heard anything really new in his speech, but it is nice to see the PM taking time to visit your riding and talk with media so close to the election. (Unlike Harper who has ended media interviews…hiding away like he’s doing some of his candidates) Too bad he totally shafted me 
(His hand was 2 inches away and he turned!) Can’t really blame him, dozens of people trying to shake his hand, he looked a little dazed.
Well, tomorrow we will have a different make-up of government. I’ll be choosing my Canada, I hope the rest of you do too.
Currently Listening to: Crazy Train – Ozzy Osbourne
Random Wikipedia Article: Port Knocking
Time for an update methinks…the holidays are over and I’m back in Waterloo and settled now (though Air Canada lost my luggage…”95% of delayed bags [euphemism anyone?] are returned…within 24 hours”…sure…).
On the election front, I’ve decided to vote here in Waterloo. I spend more time here than any other place, so now it’s really my home. After checking out the candidates for Kitchener-Waterloo, I decided I will be supporting Andrew Telegdi (How’d They Vote?, Wikipedia). I’ve also joined the University of Waterloo Young Liberals in an attempt to get more politically involved in politics in Waterloo. Today in the Imprint Mr. Telegdi took out a full page colour advertisement. That to me shows a great commitment to students, especially in a riding that has roughly 50K students, attending the University of Waterloo, Wilfrid Laurier University and Conestoga College. His add highlights 4 key areas, Education, Health care, High-Tech and Social programs, the first two being my prime interest in this election.
For those of you who are just dieing to hear why I’m voting Liberal, I’ll give you a few reasons. First, through a Liberal government, we have the strongest economy of the G8 nations, we are the only G8 nation paying down our debt, and our dollar hit a 14 year high. The Liberal platform will increase the standard income tax deductible (thus helping low income individuals like students), provide 6K to every undergraduate student with a $8.1 billion injection into education, provide $180 million to research groups, most of which are affiliated with the University of Waterloo (thus benefiting me and all my fellow students), as well as numerous other initiatives. Above all, the Liberals will support minority rights, shown in their push for a constitutional amendment to remove the Notwithstanding clause and their past support for rights throughout their tenure (which I personally hope continues).
For those of you who want to hear why I’m not voting for the other parties, I’ll quickly outline why. When it comes to the Conservatives, I cannot support a party that willfully neglects minority rights, including abortion and same-sex marriage. Even if I ignore the fact that a study done on the Conservatives platform has shown that they platform will cause a budget deficit, I cannot support a party that does not make the Charter the prime focus above all partisan politics. When it comes to the Green and NDP, their support for excessive environmental initiatives, as well as overly controlled state social programs just doesn’t fit with my right of centre economic views. (Plus I never liked there education platform of making everything needs based, such as eliminating the Millennium Scholarship programme. I would never have been able to go to Waterloo without winning it. You need to encourage scholastic achievement as well)
When I ask someone why they aren’t voting Liberal, they tell me that it’s because the Liberals are corrupt. When I ask for proof they tell me the Sponsorship Scandal. This is where I tell them that the Media has got to them. For one, if they were truly informed about the scandal, they will know that Judge Gomery was appointed my Martin to lead an inquiry, where it was found that Martin, his government, and any current MP had nothing to do with the scandal. People are forgetting that they are different governments. When the current Conservatives are equated to the Mulroney government, they call “Foul”. The Martin and Chretien governments are not the same. The Sponsorship scandal is dealt with ($200 million over 10 years when some was actually spent on useful things and the rest already returned is not even worth mentioning), the real scandal is the $200 million+ (I read somewhere an election costs roughly $200 million and this one is almost double the length of a regular election) spent on the forced election (forced by the Conservatives, I might add!).
That wasn’t so bad was it? To fill you people in on what’s going on in my life, I’ll be living in Waterloo for the next 3 and a half months, then moving back to Windsor where Nemak has graciously allowed me to return, for 4 months, then finishing off the year back in Waterloo at school. First time since I left for Waterloo that I have known my plans for a year ahead. For reading days (yeah…in Waterloo Engineering, for the near future at least, we only get 2 days instead of the whole week off) it looks like I’m going to go to the Canadian International AutoShow, and I’m excited for that. For my birthday I will be going to see the Lord of the Rings musical in Toronto, so I’m also excited for that. For now I’m just doing to focus on my classes, as I’m taking MODS, stats, ODEs, dynamics and digi logic. Seems I’ll never escape FBDs… Look! The weekend…too bad I’ve already caught myself up on the second season of Veronica Mars (A must watch!).
Currently Listening to: We Used To Be Friends – The Dandy Warhols
Random Wikipedia Article: Fallen Angel