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Recent polls have shown the NDP to be gaining support across the country. They aren’t gaining their support however, through lost Conservative support. Most, if not all of the NDP’s boost in support is coming from what was previously Liberal.
This seems like an obvious conclusion to make; The Liberal party, for the most part, is losing support, the Conservatives are staying fairly stable- if not increasing-, and the NDP is gaining national support, putting them nearly head-to-head with the Liberals.
The Green party, in the lead up to our October 14 election, is gaining support rapidly. Very rapidly.
Now, to continue with the pre-election polls: it looks, to be quite honest, that the Conservatives are going to win again. Whether or not they will win a minority, as they did last time, or a majority, is still up for argument. The major contest, by the looks of it, is going to be the opposition, and will realistically be a contest between the Liberals and the NDP, despite the Green Party’s growing support.
Now, let’s be honest; A Harper majority, to the Greens, must be a scary idea. For that matter, as a supporter of the Green, even the Liberals are far from ideal- despite the fact that Stephane Dion named his dog Kyoto. The NDP though, to the Greens, has got to be better.
As of yesterday, the Canadian Press/ Harris-Decima poll reported NDP support to be 17 per cent, and Green at 11 per cent- a collective total of 28 -, more than the Liberal’s 24 per cent, but not quite the Conservative’s 36 per cent.
Now, I understand, polls are often skewed (a margin of error of 2.8 per cent, 19 times out of 20, to be exact). Though, they are good for one thing: trends. With enough polling and surveys, you are bound to at least get at least a rough sense of the way people are thinking in the country. So, if people in Canada continue to think the way that these polls have been indicating for quite some time now, the Liberals will continue to lose support, the NDP will gain what the liberals lose, the Green will increase and the Conservatives will remain relatively stable.
Considering the Green, a leftist party, has a growing support base, I’m sure that they are hopeful of some sort of political and ideological respect at a federal level. I don’t think I even need to mention the name of the party that they will get the least from, or for that matter, the second least.
Here is what I am getting at, and this isn’t meant to be controversial or to rub anybody the wrong way:
Logically, one can assume the Green would be happiest with an NDP opposition, considering their relative position on the political spectrum and this is where the strategic voting comes into play.
retrieved from politicalcompass.org. Although I would argue that the Greens ought to be listed a little bit further left, the relative orientation is agreeable.
If you have read this far in this article, then I am sure you are aware of the way in which Canada’s “first past the post” electoral system works. If you aren’t, it’s simple. The party with the most seats is in power. If they score more than half of the seats, they win a majority – a political position with a relatively large amount of power- and if they score less than half of the seats, but still more than the other parties, they win a minority- a political position which requires far more consultation from other parties with federal representation, in particular, the opposition.
So, if the conservatives really are going to win, and you are a leftist voter, why not at least balance the spectrum and vote left, or as left as you can?
With the Liberals losing support and the NDP becoming a serious contender in the race for what looks to be the race to become the official opposition, why not push the NDP closer to power?
This does however, depend on your riding. If you live in a riding that the conservatives have traditionally won, followed by the Liberals, then voting NDP over Green is obviously futile. Your best bet, in this instance, would be to vote Liberal, as a leftist voter.
Provided your riding is always a close race, and you, as an elector, are realistically given the opportunity, why not push NDP toward becoming the official opposition?
It is my assumption, as well, that in a Green-dominant riding, the NDP would be an easy sell.
As it stands in the pre-election polls, if the Green’s support base were to vote NDP, for at least the sake of leftist representation, the NDP would topple the Liberals and become the official opposition party to the Conservatives.
To be clear, I’m not writing this as a personal endorsement for the NDP. Provided the Green had the support base that the NDP has now, the suggestion would be opposite and so on. This is merely meant to off-set arguments against strategic voting and discuss the leftist vote in this election.
Sure, there will always be people who won’t change their vote because they are die-hard and loyal voters, and they shouldn’t change their vote; it’s the beauty of democracy. But for those more interested in balancing the power, rather than party loyalty, voting strategically on October 14 is certainly something to consider.
Put it this way, if we have another Conservative minority and the Liberals are the official opposition, nothing will change. It is the same situation we have now.
If you want change, you have to vote for change.
It is a matter of making the best of the situation at hand. Canada’s archaic electoral system allows for a majority very easily and that certainly isn’t going to change before October 14.
