A Political Point of View

On June 2nd, I voted for Harry Naegel of the Green Party of Canada. I live in the Okanagan-Coquihalla riding of BC, where Reform MP Jim Hart won with 53% of the vote. While pale in comparison with Mr. Hart's 24,533 votes, Harry Naegel's 1,009 votes should be attention getting and I am proud to be one of that number. We are almost comparable to Rikhi Ramesh's 2,511 PC votes. I would not be at all surprised if come next election, when I think the Liberals will have our economy in much better condition, enough people finally turn their attention to the serious, life-threatening problems we are facing to have the first Green Party member elected to the House of Commons.

The Green Party I feel is the party that represents almost every opinion I have of the government. They would like to end Canada's arms trade industry and ban anti-personel land mines. They would like to close Canada's ports to nuclear armed or nuclear powered warships, and ensure that all oil tankers travelling through Canadian waters are equipped with a double hull. They would shift the focus of our legal and penal system to violent and sexual crime, and make property crime like robbery and vandalism mostly a matter of restitution, instead of today's situation where someone who has broken into a few houses to steal things gets 5 or 6 years while someone who raped a pre teen girl or killed a kid in the street while driving drunk is most likely going to get less than 2 years. They would reinvest in CBC Television and Radio, and eliminate the GST on print and audio and most forms of artistic impression. They would have all highways designed for first pedestrians, then cyclists, then transit vehicles, and lastly any other forms of transportation.

These are things that are good for the people, and that's what I think governments have to get back to. Not say well this is an acceptable loss for the economic gain produced. No. The health of our environment and our people is the single most important thing for the government to protect. I believe strongly that our government has no business subsidizing the fossil fuel industry or supporting nuclear power, and should instead put those resources into researching renewable and sustainable sources of energy. I am ashamed that two tiered health care is even discussed in our society. I am discouraged by the amount of money being taken away from post secondary students and disgusted with the youth unemployment rate. I am depressed by watching fishery after fishery close down due to pollution and over harvesting. I am frightened by the growing ozone hole, the rising temperatures and sea levels, and the amount of chemicals used in processing our food. I voted for the person I felt would best protect the health of this beautiful country and of every person living in it.

OK well, we had a by-election on September 11, 2000. This time, Stockwell Day, Leader of the Conservative-Reform Alliance Party, received 19,183 votes. Joan Russow, leader of the Green Party, received 2,081. The number of people voting Reform (or whatever) dropped by 20% while the number of people voting Green increased 100%. This is all while the total number of votes cast dropped by more than 15,000 (well over last election's 12,188 people voting Liberal and 2,511 Conservatives, who politely abstained this time around). Not quite the resounding show of support that was predicted in the media, in my humble opinion.