A few days ago, Avaaz.ca released a song, “You Have A Choice”, a catchy ditty about how you can stop a Harper majority through strategic voting. To save the world from escalating temperatures due to the mass release of greenhouse gases (GHG), one should vote for the candidate most likely to defeat the Conservatives.
Um, ok. In my riding, Trinity-Spadina in downtown Toronto, that would be any party except the Marxist-Leninist Party of Canada and the Canadian Action Party.
Too much choice, perhaps, but then again, not enough – what if I wanted to vote for the Conservatives? What if I thought a reduction of GHG gases by 20% from 2006 to 2020 was a great idea? I would have little choice.
Just as another of our columnists felt lost in the Conservative wilderness of Alberta, so too do many people whose riding is a long-held party bastion. Wanting to vote one way, but resigned to the fact that if they did, it would simply be an academic exercise.
Fair Vote Canada calls these people Orphan Voters. It’s set up a website detailing why there are so many orphan voters and how to best stop them from recurring. It’s mildly provocative, but concise, clear and timely.