by George Le Masurier | Oct 1, 2018
Your vote on Oct. 20 does more than elect someone to a municipal council. It shapes the future of your community. Our special pages this week will help you make more informed choices
Comox Valley voters will do more than choose their mayors, municipal council members and rural area representatives in a little more than two weeks. By selecting specific candidates voters will indirectly influence policy, and shape the direction of their communities for the next four years.
It’s a heavy burden on those who cast ballots. And it should not be done in haste or based on popularity, flashy signs or any criteria other than an informed choice of who best mirrors each voter’s values and vision.
But with so many new candidates running for office this year, how you know them well enough to earn that precious X on your ballot?
Candidates are knocking on doors and speaking at several all-candidates meetings closer to Election Day. But that’s not enough.
Decafnation has conducted in-depth interviews with as many candidates as possible, dating back to a year ago when the first candidate announced he would contend for the Courtenay mayor’s chair. And we have more profiles to publish this week. You can find them all on our Elections 2018 page. But that’s still no enough.
Decafnation has gone a step further. We have invited all candidates to engage in a comprehensive Question-and-Answer dialogue on a wide range of topics and given them considerable space (500 words) to discuss each question.
We framed most of our questions broadly, so candidates would could explain how they would approach issues at the policy or legislative level. We think the responses show which candidates have a strong vision and which do not, which candidates have a deep understanding of the bigger picture and which candidates have the depth and strength to lead us through the next four years.
Almost all the candidates in Cumberland, Courtenay, Comox and the regional district’s electoral areas participated. You might find it interesting to note which candidates chose not to participate.
We have prepared special pages on Decafnation that feature all the candidates’ responses sorted by the questions and alphabetically by the candidates’ last names. that makes it easy to compare your municipality’s candidates and factor their responses into your decision-making.
The Courtenay page will roll out first, later today (Oct. 2), followed by Comox on Wednesday, rural regional directors on Thursday and Cumberland on Friday.
The candidates have graciously collaborated with Decafnation to help you become a more informed voter. We hope you find the pages useful.
And then, vote.
Advance polls open on Oct. 10 and Oct. 17, but also on other dates in selected places. Check the home page of Decafnation for a complete listing of where and when to vote early, and beat the rush (we hope) on Election Day.
by George Le Masurier | Apr 21, 2017
People often ask me about the differences between the U.S. and Canadian electoral systems. There are many, but one stands out as the most important.
Individual candidates hardly matter in British Columbia elections.
Canadians vote first of all for the party, its record or its campaign promises. And there’s a valid reason for this party-first voting tradition.
An MLA in B.C. is expected to publicly support and vote the party line. Every time. Without exception.
While differences of opinion may be tolerated during private caucus sessions, an MLA who dares to criticize his or her party or to vote against their party can expect a swift eviction notice. Cariboo North MLA Bob Simpson discovered this hard truth in 2010 when he criticized his party leader on a community website.
Political parties learned long ago that if they failed to pass a piece of legislation, the public would lose confidence in them, and that, in turn, would make another general election unavoidable and its outcome uncertain.
So party leaders acquired the power to discipline MLAs who fall out of line.
And to keep them in line, well-behaved MLAs receive rewards. Some get cabinet appointments, some get travel junkets, some get pork barrel benefits for their ridings and some get other coveted appointments; the list of possible benefits is long.
As a result, most individual Members of the Legislative Assembly in a parliamentary democracy are much less powerful than members of American state legislatures or the U.S. Congress. In the U.S. system, Republicans and Democrats frequently swing their votes across party lines based on specific constituency interests. Not so much on the Big Ticket issues.
But this ability to vote independently of party affiliation, bestows greater importance on individual candidates in the U.S. system than in British Columbia.
On the flip side, it also makes American elected officials more vulnerable to the influence of lobbyists. Without a party leader telling you how to vote, the temptations dangled by outside interests, who aren’t accountable to voters, can be persuasive.
It’s also clear in B.C. politics that only the select few in the premier’s tight group of confidents have any significant impact on party policy. This is also true in the U.S. system. But as U.S. President Trump and Speaker of the House Paul Ryan have discovered, a fracture in party unity can disrupt the plans of the boys and girls at the top.
So, unless a candidate in B.C. is embroiled in some scandal or ranks high enough in the party to have a material impact on policy, the local campaign rarely hinges on the record or actions of an individual candidate.
And that’s what makes the May 9 provincial election difficult for many voters.
What if, for example, you dislike the B.C. Liberal Party’s policies on education, the environment and government transparency … and maybe you have a particular aversion to party leader Christy Clark..
Maybe you just think that after 16 years it’s time for fresh faces in Victoria.
But what if you find the Liberal candidate more likable, smarter and more sympathetic on the local issues that concern you than the NDP candidate?
You might consider voting Green or Conservative, but if you’re at all pragmatic, you know neither of those parties has a chance to win.
If you’re interested in the direction of British Columbia generally, and how it fits with your world-view, rather than only your personal interests or those of your specific community, you have no choice.
You must base your vote on party policy, not on the appeal of any individual candidate.
