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Hip hip hooray! For politics! Yay!

I attended an all-candidates debate … well, forum … tonight. What a tremendous experience. I realize now that I’m in a very political constituency, or at least that there are several very politically vocal people living in my riding.

Unfortunately, I feel the audience was exceptionally NDP-friendly while intensely anti-Sam Bulte, although for different reasons. I mean, they weren’t anti-Liberal because they were pro-NDP, they seemed to really have issue with Ms. Bulte’s performance as MP.

What I got was a mixture of party line and personal experience that still catered to the voting public. Obviously no one said anything overly controversial, and everyone told us how they live in the neighbourhood, they’re our best friend and they will always have our best interests at heart.

I was impressed by the politically astute answers with respect to same-sex marriage. The question was posed by an obviously very “traditional marriage” supporter. The answers ran more along the lines of either fundamental human rights or a fair and free vote in Parliament. Nobody actually came out and said they like fags marrying each other. (To set the record straight, and not to offend my homosexual friends and relations—although, I may offend my heterosexual friends and relations—I fully support equal same-sex marriage, none of this civil union horseshit.)

Anyway, it was pretty much a draw across five parties. The incumbent Liberal candidate was well-versed on all issues and very vocal about her stand on Canadian copyright law (which has been a controversial issue in her campaign). The Communist League of Canada candidate was not included in many of the discussions relating to actual future government initiatives, but she made an excellent case for supporting union and labour movements. The NDP candidate was well-spoken and much-loved by the audience, although she did seem to think the campaign was between and her Liberal opponent (in 2004 she lost by a mere 3000 votes) which seemed a little conceited and undue. Our Conservative candidate seemed less well-versed in many topic areas and came across—to me, anyway—as a bit of yokel. And I’m now torn between my socially-conscious side and my environmentally-conscious side: the Green Party candidate really knows his shit. I struggle with the NDP’s (and especially the local candidate’s) affiliation with organized labour (I’m not a big fan), but I’m equally frustrated by the small-l liberalism of the Green Party.

Monday’s the big day …. Go vote!! And keep an eye here for election coverage, I’ll have live data as the evening progresses.