In today's post I am going to be looking at the 2021 Canadian General Election and why I am supporting the Green Party of Canada.
Didn't we just have an election?
The last election was only back in October 2019, so why is there one taking place right now? With the fourth wave of a pandemic taking hold, we should be focused on getting people vaccinated so that the country can fully reopen, not on campaigning. This is clearly an opportunist call by Justin Trudeau, hoping that his largely competent and calm handling of the pandemic (especially when it was being compared to Donald Trump's response) will hand him back a majority in the Parliament he lost in 2019.
Having a minority government during the pandemic has been really beneficial. We have seen the government listening to and working with opposition parties, leading to better policy, better implementation and greater accountability. The NDP in particular can rightly claim to have used their leverage to push for more progressive policies and to ensure greater attention has been placed on those left behind during the pandemic. resulting in increased CERP payment for one. Holding this election is all about the Liberal Party wanting to be able to push forward a Liberal Party agenda rather than an all Canada agenda. But the election is happening whether we want it or not and so we have to think about who we are voting for and vote for what is important. So what is important?
It's the climate stupid!
To paraphrase that famous slogan from Bill Clinton's 1992 campaign for the US president, "It's the climate stupid!" The latest IPCC Report on climate change, published earlier this month, painted a very stark image on the impacts of climate change, and the lack of international efforts to ensure warming is limited to 1.5 degrees. Time is rapidly running out for action to be undertaken to achieve this goal and this election might be the last one where we can truly make a positive impact on effective climate policy to avoid a disaster.
The report has received global coverage due to its stark warnings, with detailed reporting appearing in (amongst many many others) The Guardian, CBC and CTV. The impacts of climate change are already been felt in Canada, with the record high temperatures, the increasing number and intensity of forest fires and more drought, for starters. Despite all of this, there is currently no climate change debate scheduled, and apart from the Green Party of Canada and the NDP, it has not been a major focus of the campaign. We need to vote for parties that understand the urgency of the situation and are willing to take action. That leaves the Greens as the best options and NDP second.
Who to vote for?
Maybe have a start by going to the CBC's Vote Compass page and answering a few questions to see which parties come closest to your views. Once you've answered the questions, you can weigh the answers to how relevant they are to you. These are my results:
It's a good start but it doesn't paint the whole picture. I consider the climate emergency the number one priority and that brings the Green Party to number one for me. Tackling the climate emergency will involve addressing many social issues too, such as decent housing for all, ensuring the rights of minorities and indigenous groups, and readjusting our economy away from profiteering and towards providing fair and equitable access to resources. The Vote Compass did not ask questions on a whole range of topics that I consider important. For example there was no question about electoral reform (so important in order to achieve fair representation of the wishes of the votes and deliver change) but there was on the monarchy (yes I want a republic but I want PR more). The best way to find out who to vote for is by reading the party manifestos for this election, although at the time of writing not all of those have been published, and what has been published isn't too dissimilar to the 2019 election. But let's move local and see who I can vote for in Nogojiwanong / Peterborough.
The candidates
I live in the Peterborough-Kawartha Riding, currently held by Maryam Monsef of the Liberal Party. For the first time, all the main party candidates in the riding are women. Along with Monsef, there is Chanté White for the Greens, Joy Lachica for the NDP, and finally, Michelle Ferreri for the Conservatives. We're so often used to seeing male only options that it really stands out when it's an all female crowd! I've chosen to volunteer my time campaigning for Chanté and I want to say why.
Why vote for Chanté?
The Green Party have chosen Chanté White to be their candidate for the Peterborough-Kawartha Riding. Having studied environmental studies at Trent University, Chanté really understands the seriousness of the climate emergency importance of taking action on the climate emergency and that is why she is putting it front and centre of her campaign. She's going out in the community door to door, business to business, conducting a listening exercise, learning about what is important to the voters. She's being hearing people's concerns on local issues including the processing nuclear materials in the city, the costs of running a small business and the cost of renting. She's also enjoying meeting all the pandemic pooches!
Of course, the best person to talk about Chanté is Chanté herself, so take a look here at her official campaign website!
