January 23, 2006
Canada Votes!
It's election night here in Canada. Not much of a surprise. Another minority government, only this time the Conservatives are the party in power. I use the term "power" loosely because it looks like a fairly slim majority. In fact, it looks like in order to pass any laws they are going to need the support of at least one other major party.
Anyway, I just wanted to say that our first past the pole electoral system bites. As I look at many of the ridings, I notice that very few candidates win with more than 50% of the vote. I think it would be hard to "represent" my constituents when more than half of them didn't vote for me. I certainly would be hesitant about towing the party line. It could come back and bite you. Especially as our political system seems to becoming more polarized you really have to walk a fine line. Maybe you don't. Maybe once you get to Ottawa you completely forget how you got there...until the next election. Which will probably be sooner than later.