Thursday, May 27, 2004
Discount Steve's Guide to Responsible Voting
I just sent an e-mail to Mr. Saeed. It's an e-mail that I also intend to send to the other three candidates in my riding, once I find their e-mail addresses. You should send e-mails to the candidates in your riding, too. This e-mail should include questions about legislative issues about which you care. It should also contain questions asking about the candidate's general approach to the position of MP. It may include questions about his/her record, if you have any such questions. It should not include questions about Executive matters, such as the sponsorship scandal, unless the questions involve legislative issues (such as "what would it take, scandal-wise, for you to vote to bring down the government," or "what should the Public Accounts Committee be doing with regards to the sponsorship scandal?").
Once you've sent these e-mails, await responses. When you get a response, send another e-mail asking for clarification on any point(s) on which you're not clear. Maintain a conversation for the entire campaign, if need be. Come election day, vote for whichever candidate answered your questions in the fashion that was most satisfactory to you. Ignore party affiliation - it's only as relevant as the MP chooses to make it. Do not, under any circumstances, vote for a candidate who does not at least acknowledge receipt of your e-mail - as a general rule, you can take the amount of respect with which a candidate treats your opinion at election time and divide it by ten to determine with how much respect he/she will do so the rest of the time.
Over the next four or so years, monitor your representative's performance. Log inconsistencies between her/his actions and the fashion in which he/she answered your e-mail. Ask her/him about these. If you don't receive a satisfactory answer, expose these contradictions in letters to the editor.
Democracy in Canada is broken only because most voters make poor use of it. Don't be guilty of this.
Here's the e-mail I'm sending candidates:
Dear Mr. Algorithm,
My name is Steve Smith, and I am an undecided voter in the riding of Edmonton-St. Albert. In order to help me make my decision, I would appreciate it if you would answer the following questions at some point before election day. I appreciate that election campaigns are gruelling and busy times, so I understand that long, in depth answers probably aren't possible, but I'd appreciate whatever you can provide.
1. What is the role of a Member of Parliament, in your view?
2. What value do you ascribe to sitting as a member of a caucus? To what extent are you prepared to compromise your personal beliefs or your perception of your constituents' beliefs to maintain the unity of your party's caucus? Under what circumstances would you leave your party's caucus to either sit as an independent or join a different caucus?
3. What action, if any, should Parliament take on recognizing same-sex marriages?
4. What action, if any, should Parliament take on marijuana?
5. What action, if any, should Parliament take on meeting Canada's Kyoto commitments?
6. What action, if any, should Parliament take on structural reform to government, such as Senate reform or electoral reform?
7. If you are elected and are sitting as a backbencher, is there any legislation that you would try to introduce in the form of a private member's bill?
8. Assuming that the present Liberal government remains in office after the election, under what circumstances, if any, would you [Liberal candidate: oppose/Other candidates: support] it on a confidence motion such as a budget?
If there is anything you'd like to add about why I should vote for you, I would appreciate reading it.
Sincerely,
Steve Smith
I may change "Algorithm" into the candidate's last name, as appropriate. I haven't decided yet.
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I just sent an e-mail to Mr. Saeed. It's an e-mail that I also intend to send to the other three candidates in my riding, once I find their e-mail addresses. You should send e-mails to the candidates in your riding, too. This e-mail should include questions about legislative issues about which you care. It should also contain questions asking about the candidate's general approach to the position of MP. It may include questions about his/her record, if you have any such questions. It should not include questions about Executive matters, such as the sponsorship scandal, unless the questions involve legislative issues (such as "what would it take, scandal-wise, for you to vote to bring down the government," or "what should the Public Accounts Committee be doing with regards to the sponsorship scandal?").
Once you've sent these e-mails, await responses. When you get a response, send another e-mail asking for clarification on any point(s) on which you're not clear. Maintain a conversation for the entire campaign, if need be. Come election day, vote for whichever candidate answered your questions in the fashion that was most satisfactory to you. Ignore party affiliation - it's only as relevant as the MP chooses to make it. Do not, under any circumstances, vote for a candidate who does not at least acknowledge receipt of your e-mail - as a general rule, you can take the amount of respect with which a candidate treats your opinion at election time and divide it by ten to determine with how much respect he/she will do so the rest of the time.
Over the next four or so years, monitor your representative's performance. Log inconsistencies between her/his actions and the fashion in which he/she answered your e-mail. Ask her/him about these. If you don't receive a satisfactory answer, expose these contradictions in letters to the editor.
Democracy in Canada is broken only because most voters make poor use of it. Don't be guilty of this.
Here's the e-mail I'm sending candidates:
Dear Mr. Algorithm,
My name is Steve Smith, and I am an undecided voter in the riding of Edmonton-St. Albert. In order to help me make my decision, I would appreciate it if you would answer the following questions at some point before election day. I appreciate that election campaigns are gruelling and busy times, so I understand that long, in depth answers probably aren't possible, but I'd appreciate whatever you can provide.
1. What is the role of a Member of Parliament, in your view?
2. What value do you ascribe to sitting as a member of a caucus? To what extent are you prepared to compromise your personal beliefs or your perception of your constituents' beliefs to maintain the unity of your party's caucus? Under what circumstances would you leave your party's caucus to either sit as an independent or join a different caucus?
3. What action, if any, should Parliament take on recognizing same-sex marriages?
4. What action, if any, should Parliament take on marijuana?
5. What action, if any, should Parliament take on meeting Canada's Kyoto commitments?
6. What action, if any, should Parliament take on structural reform to government, such as Senate reform or electoral reform?
7. If you are elected and are sitting as a backbencher, is there any legislation that you would try to introduce in the form of a private member's bill?
8. Assuming that the present Liberal government remains in office after the election, under what circumstances, if any, would you [Liberal candidate: oppose/Other candidates: support] it on a confidence motion such as a budget?
If there is anything you'd like to add about why I should vote for you, I would appreciate reading it.
Sincerely,
Steve Smith
I may change "Algorithm" into the candidate's last name, as appropriate. I haven't decided yet.
