Friday, January 20, 2006
I was going to write on a different topic but after doing some research, decided to reveal some interesting facts. If the word 'elections' brings the same look on your face as if asked to give an opinion about the 'Estimation of Thermophysical Properties of Athabasca Vacuum Resid using a Group Contribution Based Equation of State,' then this post is going to be a real bore. If you live in the Millwoods riding, it might be beneficial to keep reading.
It's common knowledge that immigrants tend to vote for Liberals because they're the party that brought them into the country. I believe there is another reason for such a pattern.
For those who follow American politics, you'd realize that elections are won based on the domestic issues and not foreign policy; kind of ironic methinks consideirng US actions greatly effect the world. This is why George Bush Sr. lost power in 1992 even though he whopped Saddam Hussein the year before in the first Gulf War. The US economy at the time was reeling and thus the voters lost confidence in him even though he had secured a commanding war victory.
It's common to brand Americans as 'fools' because they elected George Bush Jr. back to office even though he created a mess on the international stage and proved to the rest of the world that an intelligent chimp with a bow tie can do a better job. But thanks to the events of September 11 and an atmosphere of fear, it led to his re-election.
Your average Canadian tends to pay more attention to Canada's role internationally but the segment of the population that has a strong connection to other countries tend to be the immigrants for whom the foreign policy is of utmost importance.
Don't worry guyz, I'm getting to the point of my little story.
The Conservatives, formerly known as the Canadian Reform Alliance Party or C.R.A.P., are well known to be American cronies and support the 'war on terror.' If it was upto them, we'd be a proud member of the infamous 'coalition of the idiots.' They also want to join the Americans on the STAR WARS program, an ambitious project that seeks to militarize space in order to stop incoming missiles to North America.
As much as I dislike the Liberal's culture of corruption and NDP's overspending policies, Conservative's foreign policy is to dethrone Tony Blair as Bush's lapdog. I rather have people in the government stealing millions of dollars than have Canadian soldiers put their lives at risk in a wrong war that includes killing of innocent civilians (nicely put as collateral damage).
I believe most of my blog readers would also not vote Conservatives (i could be wrong). I began to tilt towards the NDP because of a former respected teacher, Malcolm Azania, joining their ranks and their support of the Maher Arar case.
As much as I would like to see NDP as the majority government, I don't want the Conservatives in power. Many muslims have also started to tilt towards the NDP but we have to learn to vote 'smart.' There is no point voting for NDP in a riding that is clearly a two-horse race between the Conservatives and Liberals.
Liberals won the Millwoods riding in the last elections by a meagre 1.5% votes (15813 vs. 15237 courtesy of Elections Canada). The NDP were a distant third with 3651 votes. All signs point to another close finish so all those in the Millwoods riding who were thinking about voting NDP, you might want to think again. They are very unlikely to win but a switch on your part might mean a victory for the Conservatives and us moving one step closer to sending Canadian troops to fight in foreign wars turning us into a potential terror target.
It's common knowledge that immigrants tend to vote for Liberals because they're the party that brought them into the country. I believe there is another reason for such a pattern.
For those who follow American politics, you'd realize that elections are won based on the domestic issues and not foreign policy; kind of ironic methinks consideirng US actions greatly effect the world. This is why George Bush Sr. lost power in 1992 even though he whopped Saddam Hussein the year before in the first Gulf War. The US economy at the time was reeling and thus the voters lost confidence in him even though he had secured a commanding war victory.
It's common to brand Americans as 'fools' because they elected George Bush Jr. back to office even though he created a mess on the international stage and proved to the rest of the world that an intelligent chimp with a bow tie can do a better job. But thanks to the events of September 11 and an atmosphere of fear, it led to his re-election.
Your average Canadian tends to pay more attention to Canada's role internationally but the segment of the population that has a strong connection to other countries tend to be the immigrants for whom the foreign policy is of utmost importance.
Don't worry guyz, I'm getting to the point of my little story.
The Conservatives, formerly known as the Canadian Reform Alliance Party or C.R.A.P., are well known to be American cronies and support the 'war on terror.' If it was upto them, we'd be a proud member of the infamous 'coalition of the idiots.' They also want to join the Americans on the STAR WARS program, an ambitious project that seeks to militarize space in order to stop incoming missiles to North America.
As much as I dislike the Liberal's culture of corruption and NDP's overspending policies, Conservative's foreign policy is to dethrone Tony Blair as Bush's lapdog. I rather have people in the government stealing millions of dollars than have Canadian soldiers put their lives at risk in a wrong war that includes killing of innocent civilians (nicely put as collateral damage).
I believe most of my blog readers would also not vote Conservatives (i could be wrong). I began to tilt towards the NDP because of a former respected teacher, Malcolm Azania, joining their ranks and their support of the Maher Arar case.
As much as I would like to see NDP as the majority government, I don't want the Conservatives in power. Many muslims have also started to tilt towards the NDP but we have to learn to vote 'smart.' There is no point voting for NDP in a riding that is clearly a two-horse race between the Conservatives and Liberals.
Liberals won the Millwoods riding in the last elections by a meagre 1.5% votes (15813 vs. 15237 courtesy of Elections Canada). The NDP were a distant third with 3651 votes. All signs point to another close finish so all those in the Millwoods riding who were thinking about voting NDP, you might want to think again. They are very unlikely to win but a switch on your part might mean a victory for the Conservatives and us moving one step closer to sending Canadian troops to fight in foreign wars turning us into a potential terror target.
Faraz Ahmed 9:34 p.m.