#ndp19

I know y'all are seeing my political posts, I know y'all are watching the election coverage with bated breath like I am, I know some of y'all probably did advanced voting because you live outside your riding, or you're travelling on election day, those are all good things.

Here are some things to remember going into elections on Monday:

- Both Andrew Scheer AND Justin Trudeau have proven to be racist, Trudeau just not as overtly

- The PPC may not seem like a threat because they're polling low, but if you don't take them seriously then we run the risk of them gaining some office (remember, Hitler's National Socialist Party did not all out win their first election, they built slowly over time, don't let Bernier even get that chance)

- Jagmeet Singh's NDP is going to do everything they are able to actually work on this country, this includes making sure Indigenous people living on reserves have clean drinking water, a comprehensive climate action plan, universal dental care, and educational amnesty (meaning they will either eliminate university tuition or seriously improve the tuition system and student loan system). This also means the feds won't be buying anymore pipelines, or lying about the efforts to help families in the location of, or justice for, missing and murdered aboriginal women and children

- Remember, of three of the huge things Trudeau campaigned on (weed legalisation, and proper aid and programs for the families of missing and murdered aboriginal women and children, and LGBT right protections) he only did one of them, which was legalise weed (which was not implemented effectively imo) and has otherwise ignored his promises to help indigenous families locate their missing and murdered loved ones, and has like marched in Pride parades and has otherwise done nothing to support LGBT+ Canadians

- Neither Andrew Scheer or Justin Trudeau want to address or condemn Trump for separating migrant children from their families, and putting humans in cages, for fear of "playing politics" (which were actual words out of Trudeau's mouth this week)

- There are SOME ridings across country where strategically voting for Libs is your best bet to avoid PPC or the Conservative party, but others where voting NDP will kick corrupt Libs out of office (see @allthecanadianpolitics for more info, they're an awesome blog, they lean left but they do a really good job being as impartial and informative as possible)

- READ PARTY PLATFORMS, they're there for a reason so you can be informed about each party's platforms, and what they plan to do for people

- Remember we are NOT a two party system(!!!!!!!!) we have more viable options!! We don't JUST have to choose the "lesser of two evils", if you don't like Libs or Tories then vote NDP!

- The Green party has a decent platform, but May has said that if her party members wanted to reopen reproductive rights debates then she will not stop them, be aware of this

- Most of all, if you are of age and haven't voted in advance get out on October 21st and VOTE! Most polling places in my area are open 8:30am till 8:30pm, you can check the elections Canada website to find your polling station and its hours of operation on election day

- If this is your first time voting in any election you can register at your polling place, I did this during our last provincial election, all you need is your ID, preferably 2 pieces, one photo and one other government ID (health card, passport, birth certificate), or other proof of address (utility bills, voter card) and your photo ID

- Your workplace is required to allow you time to vote at your polling place the day of if you are unable to go at any other time

- Your Voice MATTERS, USE YOUR VOTE, NO VOTE IS A WASTED VOTE

Look. If you live in a riding where the NDP or the Greens or whatever your favorite party is stands a reasonable chance of winning, go for it. Vote for whoever you want. But listen. I’m in a riding where the current MP is the first Liberal MP the riding has ever had. In fact, the first Liberal MP that any riding including this city has had since the 1970s.

If you’re voting in a riding like mine

Do not vote NDP or Green.

Yeah, yeah, “Canada is not a 2-party system.” And it’s not. That’s the advantage of a parliament. In the US system, voting for a small party is a trap. If you vote for the Green party, all you’re really doing is taking away votes from the Democrats. The American Greens are too small to win, especially for President, and by voting for them you’re just decreasing the chances that a candidate you sort of agree with will beat the candidate you don’t agree with at all. Canada doesn’t have this problem on a national scale, because even if the Liberals lose a lot of votes to the NDP, so long as no party gets a straight majority they can still form a coalition to make a minority government.

What Canada is, though, is First Past the Post. What that means is that when voting for your local MPs, it doesn’t matter who came second place. It doesn’t matter if nobody got a majority of votes. All that matters is who has the most. If you’re in a riding where 51% of the people voted Liberal last time, and 49% voted Conservative, and 15% of the old Liberal voters switch to NDP for this election, then the Conservatives will win. There’s no coalitions for a local MP, there’s no “minority” local MP. The winner takes all.