Reasons for not voting in the May 2, 2011 federal election

Not that I'm bitter or anything...just sayin'...

7.5 million eligible voters did not vote in the recent federal election, in which "The Harper Government" stole won a majority in the House.  And here's why:

Reasons for not voting in the May 2, 2011 federal election
Statistics Canada

What the????

I spent this week in denial about the election.  I'm stunned.  'nuff said.

So, not much changed locally, with the exception of conservative Susan Truppe narrowly taking Glen Pearson's riding.

Mr. Pearson reflects on this in his blog: The Parallel Parliament.

A hightlight from his May 6th post:

"But the truth is I was never comfortable in politics. I have the instincts of a public servant, not those of a partisan politician. The House no longer functions well and a government found in contempt of that place now has a majority mandate – things are deeply dysfunctional, both in the House and among the citizenry."

As part of a community of anti-poverty activists, I recognize that the Harper government may slow any progress towards closing the gap between the rich and the poor.  But, the work continues.

Hennessy's Index: Election Jawdroppers (May 2011) A number is never just a number

From the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives:

Hennessy's Index is a monthly listing of numbers, written by the CCPA's Trish Hennessy (have I mentioned that I have a huge girl-crush on Trish Hennessy's brain?), about Canada and its place in the world.  For other months, visit: http://policyalternatives.ca/index

For a PDF version: Click here

 

• 5

  Number of questions Prime Minister Stephen Harper permits reporters on the campaign trail.(Source)

• $38.7 million

  What the Conservative government has spent on media monitoring since 2008. (Source)

• $46.5 million

  How much more the federal government spent on advertising than corporate giant Bell Canada in 2009-10. Total 2009-10 federal advertising budget: $136 million. (Source)

• 16

  Number of Liberal and coalition attack ads posted on the Conservative Party of Canada's campaign website (multimedia section). (Source)

• 54

  Percentage of Canadians who prefer a Liberal-NDP coalition government over a Conservative majority government: April 1, 2011 Ipsos Reid poll. (Source)

• $29 billion
  

  Estimated cost of the Harper government's proposed F35 fighter jets. (Source)

• 0

  Number of engines that actually come with the fighter jets. (They're extra). (Source)

• $2,829.38

  Estimated personal cost to Canadians who earn $50,000, to pay for Harper's F35 fighter jets, new prisons, and oil company subsidies. Calculate your personal cost at contactyourmp.ca/harpercost. (Source)

• $50 million

  Total reported amount of federal funding to spruce up Parry Sound-Muskoka for the G8 summit. Includes $14,000 for glow sticks and $100,000 for a gazebo an hour's drive away from the G8 site. (Source)

• 62

  Percentage of Canadians who describe Canada's democracy as being in a state of crisis. (Source)

• 2,056,001

   Number of Canadians who voted in advance polls, April 2011. A 34 per cent increase comopared to the 2008 federal election. (Source)

Vote . . . because you CAN!

When is $500 not $500?

A new report from the Caledon Institute of Social Policy

When is $500 not $500? Ken Battle and Sherri Torjman, April 2011

 

In this commentary, the authors point out that tax credits are often worth less than they appear.  In fact, most tax credits are designed as ‘non-refundable credits.’  This design means that recipients of these tax benefits do not receive any direct cash payment.  Rather they obtain their benefit in the form of an income tax reduction when they file their taxes.  Non-refundable credits are also of limited value to households with low or no income and do little to alleviate poverty.

http://www.caledoninst.org/Publications/PDF/936ENG.pdf
Also new:
Health Care in a Renewed Federalism
Tom Kent, April 2011

A simple way to help Canada’s poorest seniors
Ken Battle, Sherri Torjman and Michael Mendelson, April 2011

Prisons or poverty? The choice is clear
Ken Battle, Sherri Torjman and Michael Mendelson, April 2011

McQuesten: Elements of a Successful Neighbourhood Initiative
Anne Makhoul, April 2011

Restoring Minimum Wages in Canada
Ken Battle, April 2011

Policy Agenda in Search of a Budget
Ken Battle, Sherri Torjman, Michael Mendelson, March 2011

Check out the election tools on Vote Social Canada

http://votesocial.ca/

This election, real change is possible if we all show up.

Voting makes a difference. Voting with all your friends will really make a difference. Plus it's more fun. Let's protect Canadian values of cooperation and democracy by not just voting, but voting social.

Harper's most controversial quotes (as compiled by the TORIES!)

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/canadavotes2011/story/2011/04/25/cv-election-harper-dossier.html#

April 25, 2011
A 500-page dossier of potentially damaging remarks by Stephen Harper has hit the election campaign, but don't blame the opposition parties — it was prepared by the Conservatives. The thick binder of material, obtained by the Liberals, is a treasure trove of controversial Harper quotes, listed alphabetically by subject matter. It covers everything from abortion to western alienation and dates as far back as the 1980s.

Here are some sickening samples, from http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/inside-politics-blog/2011/04/the-harper-quotes-dossier-a-sample.html

Here are some of the Stephen Harper quotes that the Conservatives identified and compiled as potential political headaches several years ago so they were ready to counter what the other parties' research teams dug up.

The quotes are divided by subject matter mostly - going through the 100 pages of updates first so we get the freshest batch. Then onto the original 359 pages. Please note that the first date is the date the binder was prepared - the date of the quote comes after the quote.

The index to the whole package includes section headings for abortion, the CBC, Brian Mulroney, bilingualism, Aboriginal issues, ethnic voting, Ezra Levant and Jean Charest.

-From the June 26, 2003 update, page 5 - on health:
"The federal government doesn't run the health-care system, it didn't create it and it's not going to fix it." April 12, 2001

-From the June 26, 2003 update, page 9-10 - on health:
"Part of my skepticism with the Romanow Commission," he said, "is the idea that you can somehow just do a study and consult a lot of people. Ultimately, there is going to have to be experimentation and working with some solutions to find out whether they pan out or not." (no date - from Toronto Star article called "New Alliance leader rips health care..." The Romanow Commission delivered its final report Nov. 28, 2002)

-From the July 22, 2003 update, page 5 - on the Liberal Party:
"The fundamental strategy of the Liberal party for the last 30 years remains screw the West, get the rest." - 06/2003 (date partially cut off)

-From the June 26, 2003 update, page 4 - on MP pay:
"Most MPs are bit players in today's parliamentary system, with the average backbencher merely acting as an ombudsman for constituents on non-partisan issues and as a local sales representative for his/her political party on the big issues. That's why we believe that before MPs demand more money, they should reform the system and give themselves a role that's deserving of more money." (Sept. 1, 1998)

-From the June 26, 2003 update, page 18 - on social conservatism:
"We need to rediscover Burkean or social conservatism because a growing body of evidence points to the damage the welfare state is having on your most important institutions, particularly the family. Conservatives have to give much higher place to confronting threats posed by modern Liberals to this building block of our society." Jan. 6, 2003

-From the July 22, 2003 update, page 5 - on polls about Iraq war:
"It's a little harder to read, you know, we have kind of all Liberal media sponsored polls here." - 03/2003 to Fox News (date partially cut off)

-From the June 26, 2003 update, page 8 - on the Iraq war:
"We should not rule out any options. The Prime Minister's position today seems to be exactly our position." - Jan. 8, 2003 (not ruling out intervention without UN approval)

 -From the July 22, 2003 update, page 6 - on Canada Post:
"The real problem is the double monopoly in postal service. The government gives post office management a monopoly over Canadians' mail, and then Canada Post gives CUPW union bosses the labour monopoly power to shut the service down... Only ending the monopoly will ensure that Canadians are never held hostage by another postal strike." - 02/1997 (date partially cut off) 9.

-From the Jan. 7, 2004 update, page 12 - on health:
"The solution is to have a healthcare system where people pay some of the costs themselves." "If we had a healthcare system based on insurance and we paid for these services out of our own pocket, this would be a non-issue." - referring to what the article's writer called broad-brush swipes at people whose behaviour is deemed costly (March 22, 1999)

-From the June 26, 2003 update, page 11 - on election advertising laws:
"Studies have shown over and over again that people can hear political ads in all kinds of volume and make up their own mind. This whole idea that the voters can't decide, and the voters might vote wrong is a fundamentally undemocratic notion." - May 10, 2000

-From June 26, 2003 update - page 2 - on the UN and NATO - this was on Politics with Don Newman:
"I think the UN security Council, the role that some had hoped it would play post-Cold War, is dead. Not just because of this but because of Kosovo. NATO's role is also in doubt." 04/2004 (date cut off)

-From original Harper Quotations database - April 17, 2003 - p. 227 - on being a career politician:
"It has never been my intention to seek a second term or to become a career politician." May 10, 1996

"I can state categorically that I would not be a candidate in any future leadership contest ... The decision to run again would have meant that I was making politics my career ... I've been at this particular game for over a decade and on a personal level I feel it's time to get some broader experience outside Parliament. Parliament is already dysfunctional ... The last thing that Parliament needs is to be filled with people who have never done anything but partisan politics." May 10, 1996

-From June 26, 2003 update - page 1 - on an Ipsos poll showing only 15 per cent of Canadians thought Canada should contribute troops to a unilateral attack on Iraq:
"I don't give a damn about the polls." 04/2003 (date cut off)

-From June 26, 2003 update - page 1 - on John Manley and the Liberals opposing the US invasion of Iraq:
"I mean, this is a communications tactic worthy of Saddam Hussein." 04/2003

-From June 26, 2003 update - page 3 - on the CBC:
As published in the Langley, B.C. AdvanceNews: 'Harper accused Chrétien's Liberals "and frankly some elements of our national broadcasting corporation" of apparently wanting to prove that "the America of George Bush is not better than the Iraq of Saddam Hussein".' April 11, 2003

-From Aug. 28, 2003 update - page 1 - on Alberta:
"We [Alberta] are the only province in Canada keeping pace with the top tier countries in the world. Now we must show that we will not stand for a second-tier country run by a third-world leader with fourth-class values." 02/2001

-From Aug. 28, 2003 - page 3 - on Elections Canada and then-Chief Electoral Officer Jean-Pierre Kingsley:
'"The jackasses at Elections Canada are out of control." Please excuse my language, but when I learned Elections Canada's bureaucrats have pressed charges against a Canadian citizen, I just blew my cool. That is the exact language I used ... This is not the first attack on freedom by Elections Canada. Its heavy-handed chief, Jean-Pierre Kingsley, has been an advocate of the most minute of controls and regulations - and stiff punishments - on every aspect of "free" elections.' 08/2001

-From Aug. 28, 2003 - page 3 - on Elections Canada and then-Chief Electoral Officer Jean-Pierre Kingsley:
"Simply put, Kingsley is a dangerous man. It is appropriate that journalists have dubbed him Canada's 'Chief Electoral Ideologue' and 'Chief Electoral Nanny.'" 08/2001

-From Aug. 28, 2003 supplement, page 7 - on the Wheat Board:
'On the prairies, we [NCC] demand marketing freedom for farmers. The Soviet-styled Canadian Wheat Board monopoly has suppressed free enterprise and value-added production for too long ... Let's unshackle western farmers from the CWB. That's the only real "Farm Crisis" solution.' 02/2000

-From Jan. 7, 2004 supplement, page 4 - on Reform and Quebec: "I don't think anybody, frankly, in this party is very scared about pissing off the Bloc." June 7, 1996

-From Jan. 7, 2004 supplement, page 4 - on the Canadian Alliance: "This political party stands for values that are eternal ... this country will either adopt our values or it will fail." Dec. 20, 2001

*Note - John Baird said on April 5 that Harper was different from Ignatieff because "he's never criticized Canadian peacekeepers." It was in response to a question about both leaders having made (years ago) remarks about Canada that could be construed as negative.

-From Jan. 7, 2004 supplement, page 11 - on peacekeeping in Rwanda:
"I'm not being facetious these people are disappointed that the Hutu are returning home and there's no longer any need for them to be saved by Canadians ... They [the Liberals] launched the mission purely on the basis of television footage ... and mined it for public relations purposes." Dec. 9, 1996 (Context note provided by Conservative staffer says "The Leader discusses the debacle that was the UN involvement in Rwanda. Being overly critical of a military deployment may be considered a bit rich considering our advocacy on behalf of the liberation of Iraq.").

-From Jan. 7, 2004 supplement, p 13 - on health:
"The Canada Health Act must be opened up. The federal government is playing an entirely negative role in health care." Jan. 19, 2002

-From April 11, 2003 Harper Quotations, p. 11 - on western alienation:
"I too am one of these angry westerners. The Liberals demonized the West and Alberta in particular ... we may love Canada, but Canada does not love us ... let's make the province strong enough that the rest of the country is afraid to threaten us." Dec. 18, 2000

-From April 11, 2003 Harper Quotations, p. 43 - on bilingualism:
"That special status is needed to protect the French language in Quebec is simply false." Jan. 20, 2002

-From April 11, 2003 Harper Quotations, p. 54 - on the Canada Pension Plan:
"Low and middle income Canadians are the ones who fund the Canada Pension Plan now. They seem to have the money to do it. If they have the money to provide government with pensions, why don't they have the money to invest it themselves? I think there's a fundamental contradiction here." Feb. 23, 1997

-From April 11, 2003 Harper Quotations, p. 121 - on universities:
"I think we're vastly over-invested in universities. Universities should be relatively small and provide excellent education and research in a number of specialized areas. I think the vast majority of young people should be going through non-university, post-secondary training." Sept. 15, 2000

-From April 11, 2003 Harper Quotations, p. 138 - on immigration:
"You've got to remember that west of Winnipeg the ridings the Liberals hold are dominated by people who are either recent Asian immigrants or recent migrants from eastern Canada: people who live in ghettoes and who are not integrated into western Canadian society." Jan. 22, 2001

Short-form census makes debut Monday
April 28, 2011

Toronto Star
By Bruce Campion-Smith

Briefly:

"It’s controversial, political divisive and could have a lasting effect on how Canadians see their country. And it’s not Monday’s election. It’s the census and missing this year are the detailed long-form questionnaires that have helped many corners of Canadian society plan for the future. Yet many experts warn that the loss of the mandatory long-form census — and its questions on education, employment and commuting habits — risks leaving Canadians in the dark about their changing lifestyles and trends.

“That’s my firm belief,” said Ivan Fellegi, who served as chief statistician at Statistics Canada for 23 years. “But more important than that, we will not only have less knowledge about ourselves, we will have the wrong knowledge about ourselves because we won’t know what’s right and what’s wrong."

Addressing Child and Family Poverty in Canada: Where do the parties stand?

Three out of four cross-Canada parties commit to reduce poverty; Conservatives ignore Poverty Reduction and Inequality


Citing the persistence of poverty and growing gap between the rich and poor across Canada, national anti-poverty coalition Campaign 2000 today expressed satisfaction that three out of four parties have committed to a poverty reduction plan.

Reducing poverty and inequality is not just a moral issue, but an essential element in managing the economy.
Poverty and inequality drive health care and crime control expenditures, lead to skilled labour shortages through poor educational attainment, and generate social conflict.

Poverty persists across Canada with nearly one in ten people, including 610,000 low-income children and their mothers, living in poverty (2008 LICO after-tax). These most recent statistics do not reflect the current situation or the full impact of the recession and continuing economic disruption. These families still feel the double burden of job loss at the workplace and increased economic stress at home.

“We’ve analyzed the party platforms and found that all parties except for the Conservative Party have plans for poverty reduction in their platforms. The Liberals, New Democrats and Greens have all agreed to develop a plan to address poverty, to establish a system of universally accessible, high quality early childhood education and care services and to develop a national strategy for affordable housing including funds for social housing. The Bloc Québécois also supports a plan to make poverty history in Canada that recognizes Québec’s particular role in social policy,” said Laurel Rothman, National Coordinator of Campaign 2000. “These commitments are essential to an effective strategy to reduce and eventually eradicate poverty in Canada.”

“We do know how to reduce and eradicate poverty – northern European countries have child and family poverty rates below 5%, without sacrificing vibrant economic growth or prosperity. Those countries invest in people throughout the life cycle and everyone in society benefits. In Canada, the majority of provinces have adopted or are all working on poverty reduction plans. But the missing link is an active federal government role,” said Sid Frankel, University of Manitoba and Social Planning Council of Winnipeg. “That’s why this federal election is so important – we need Canada’s next federal government to commit to a plan to reduce poverty levels by at least 25% over the next 5 years and enshrine that in legislation.”

To view a full copy of the Campaign 2000 party grid (short form and long form) summarizing party platforms on poverty, visit http://www.campaign2000.com/

Campaign 2000 is a non-partisan cross Canada coalition of over 120 organizations committed to ending child & family poverty in Canada.

Democracy: nurture, develop, defend it

Earlier this week I got this message in my in-box from a professor at UWO:

"Democracy comes into being by our political determination; it does not happen by evolution. You could nurture, develop and defend it or you could let it slip away from our hands in one generation. Don't forget to vote on the Federal Election Day on May 2nd."

Ontario Municipal Social Services Association

OMSSA 2011 Federal Election Comparison chart

"This summary of federal political party platforms is intended to provide, in their own words, a synopsis of party positions on issues central of OMSSA members. We will continue to update this chart as parties release information.  For further details, please see party platforms and issue papers, which may be found on each party’s website."

Housing and Homelessness

Employment and Income Issues

Early Learning and Child Care and other family issues

Other human issues

Canada’s corporate tax policy sustains child poverty

http://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorialopinion/article/972072
From last Sunday's (Apr. 10th) Toronto Star
 by Simon Rosenblum and Sid Frankel

Here's a highlight:

"Simply put, the Harper government faced no economic imperative in introducing more corporate tax cuts. It was a matter of ideology trumping sound economics.

Now, in order to pay for them, Canadians are going to have do without some important goods and services — what economists call social goods. Social goods like investments in our children which, while you can’t go to the mall to buy, make us richer as a society."

Citizens for Public Justice

Here's the link:

Election 2011: Fighting poverty – the party platforms
Click on the link to check out the Parties' platforms on poverty.


"How we treat our most vulnerable citizens says a lot about our country and its values. The same is true of governments.
Citizens for Public Justice, along with our partners in the Dignity for All campaign, have long called for vigorous and sustained action by the federal government to combat poverty in Canada. We’ve described the measures that we think are necessary to achieve the vision of a poverty-free Canada in the three goals of the Dignity for All campaign:

• A federal plan for poverty elimination that complements provincial and territorial plans.
• A federal anti-poverty Act that ensures enduring federal commitment and accountability for results.
• Sufficient federal investment in social security for all Canadians.

We’ve also argued that eliminating poverty calls for a comprehensive approach that addresses factors including income security, housing, Early Childhood Education and Care, Employment Insurance and job creation."

Project Democracy

http://www.projectdemocracy.ca/

"Welcome to ProjectDemocracy.ca.
Canadians don’t have an electoral system that directly reflects the ballot box.  With our 'first-past-the-post' electoral system, vote splitting means Canadians could end up with a majority Harper Government with as little as 35 percent of the popular vote.  This is not the outcome most Canadians want, and avoiding it requires voter knowledge and cooperation.

In the last election voteforenvironment.ca was the go-to site for nearly half a million unique visitors who clicked in time and again to determine how they could mark their ballot to get an acceptable electoral outcome.   If you were one of those 440,000 – congratulations, it worked!  On the last day that public opinion polls were available, the VFE website model showed that the Conservatives were on track to win 152 seats, but on Monday, they were elected in 143.  Our analysis shows thousands of visits to our advice regarding the candidate with the best chance to beat the Conservative in key ridings. (link here for 2008 analysis)

ProjectDemocracy.ca builds on voteforenvironment.ca.  The stakes for our environment were very high in 2008, and remain at risk.  Since then it has become even clearer that Harper is prepared to ignore the basic tenets of our democracy to keep in power and pursue his ideological agenda.  For all those who care deeply about our democracy, stopping the Harper machine is job one.

Please check your riding, sign-up and spread the word (especially to people you may know in key ridings)."

Elgin--Middlesex--London

London North Centre

London West

London--Fanshawe

The Ethnic Vote

Communities of Colour reject the tactics of certain politicians in their targeting of particular ethno-racial groups in pursuit of so-called "very ethnic votes" !?

A newspaper story about this video:

Tim Harper: ‘Just beat it,’ new Canadians tell politicians in YouTube video 

Toronto Star

April 15, 2011

http://www.colourofpoverty.ca/ has some well done fact sheets about racialized poverty.

FactSheet #1 - Introduction
FactSheet #2 - Snapshot
FactSheet #3 - Education
FactSheet #4 - Health
FactSheet #5 - Employment
FactSheet #6 - Income
FactSheet #7 - Justice
FactSheet #8 - Immigration
FactSheet #9 - Housing
FactSheet #10 - Food (In)Security
FactSheet Source Document Reference List 2007

I Heart Facebook....Have you seen this?

My son sent me a link today on FaceBook:
S#!t Harper Did

Here's an article about the website.  Enjoy!

And ... one more fun Harper site.

Democracy

Hennessy's Index: A number is never just a number April 2011: Democracy 
(download the PDF from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives)

1918
The year women secured the right to vote in Canada. 1944 France. 2005 Kuwait.

1947
The year Chinese Canadians secured the right to vote.

1960
The year non-enfranchised Aboriginal peoples in Canada secured the right to vote.

73.1
Percentage of Canadians who voted in 1867 federal election: year of confederation.

Two Parties
Choice in 1867 federal election: Conservatives 50%. Liberals 49%.

74.2
Percentage of Canadians who voted in 1935 federal election: mid-Great Depression.

75.3
Percentage of Canadians who voted in 1945 federal election: end of Second World War.

79.4
Percentage of Canadians who voted in 1958 federal election: John Diefenbaker’s Conservative government secured one of largest majorities in Canadian history.

75.7
Percentage of Canadians who voted in 1968 federal election: Trudeaumania.

75.3
Percentage of Canadians who voted in1988 federal election: free trade.

Five Parties
Choice in the 2008 federal election: Conservative, Liberals, NDP, Bloc, Greens.

58.8
Percentage of Canadians who voted in the 2008 federal election. Historical low.

Take Action! Oppose the proposed “Conditional Permanent Residence” for sponsored spouses

Canadian Council for Refugees

Citizenship and Immigration Canada published on March 26, 2011 a notice proposing that some sponsored spouses have only “conditional” permanent residence for two years or more.

Citizenship and ImmigrationCanada (CIC) is asking for comments on their proposal. They must be submitted by Monday April 25^th. The CCR encourages organizations  to comment on this proposed change, which would be a big step backwards in Canadian immigration policy, and would be detrimental to the equality, safety and protection in particular of women and children.

Take action!

• Send your comments on the notice to Citizenship and Immigration Canada by Monday April 25^th (to Justine Akman, mailto:justine.akman%40cic.gc.ca – see details at http://bit.ly/fIhvWx) 
• Make the concerns known in the public and through the media.
• Contact the CCR if you would like to discuss developing a joint strategy to oppose this proposal (for example a joint statement signed by many organizations?).  Email marisa@ccrweb.ca.

Take a look at the election questions while you're on the CCR website.

Researchers say: "All political parties ignoring poverty"

From CBC News:

All political parties ignoring poverty: researchers

Need a Break from all the Attack Ads??

Isadore Houlihan despises all you love

By Roger Collier, The Ottawa Citizen

You can take a swing by Roger's website to read some of his other funny essays.

And since we're on the topic of political attack ads, check out http://www.cbc.ca/news/interactives/who-attackads/ to see 10 attack ads that WORKED!

And you can see some of those ads at http://this.org/blog/2011/03/09/attack-ads-canada/ including this new one from the Green Party.  AH!  Nothing like a little mudslinging at a little mudslinging!  Enjoy: