Tuesday, May 22, 2018

It Can't Just Be About Polls


The top story in the Ontario provincial election is who might win. The second story is a competition between a budgeting error in the ONDP platform and the fact that several Tory candidates acquired information unlawfully for the campaign. I'm a member of the New Democratic Party of Ontario. Right now there is a sign on my lawn supporting that party, and I have been reading obsessively over the fact that the NDP might be closing the gap with the Progressive Conservatives.

It's exciting. No doubt my social media feed is dominated mainly by those who enjoy the horserace of politics, but there is a hell of a lot more to an election to merely waiting to see who wins it at the end.

I will cut the voters and media a little slack. The intense unpopularity of the Wynne Liberals means that this election has long been about change and Ontarians have been trying to figure out what sort of change they need or want. The competition, the polls and the seat projections are fascinating, I know, but I would strongly encourage readers of this blog to at least pick one issue to do a deeper dive on.

My best friend is a teacher and she asked me for help picking apart education policy and helping her decide the platforms. Once I, as fairly as I could, lay out the different ideas the three parties are presenting, we had a substantial conversation about education in this province and which party offered the best package of solutions. It was the best conversation I've had about the election because it was about something.

So, my advice is simple. Pick an issue that you care a lot about and see what the four major parties think about that topic. As a starter Maclean's put together the platforms of the parties

Good luck Ontarians, we can't simply vote based on who we're going to vote for after all.




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