Justin Trudeau, Tom Mulcair and Elizabeth May:
Congratulations to all of us! Somehow, in spite of our broken first-past-the-post voting system, we joined forces to defeat Stephen Harper. October 19 was a day in the history of citizens’ democracy. We took our country back from the brink of a corporate government greedy for power and control for its own elite, at the expense of everyone else.
What is extraordinary and ground-breaking about this election is that we did it at all. For your essential, determined help: Dogwood Initiative, Lead Now, Avaaz.org, Open Media, Friends of CBC, SumofUs.org and in our riding, Sunshine Coast Alliance for Democracy – thank you.
For the past nine years, as we realized what was happening in the guise of “democracy,” we were frustrated that the parties did not actually consider the benefit and well-being of all Canadians. With the brilliant, political move Harper made when he morphed the Conservative brand to himself, we needed a government whose values coincided with the true majority (Liberals, NDP and Green) not a (true minority) government that ruled for the elite. But each party stuck to its own turf. Even as the Liberal party was decimated, even as the NDP surged ahead, even as the Greens knew they’d be stealing votes and endangering a left win, each party became more determined to win for themselves.
In the end, it wasn’t really Trudeau who won. Canadian voters did what we had to do. You all forced us to vote strategically.
We can do it again. But we need a government reflecting our own varied choices – not just a government we don’t want. Each political party has a responsibility to the Canadian people. Not just to your party. So change the voting system. Bring in proportional representation – so Canadians can have the Canada that reflects each of us, and all of us. Conservatives included.
Caitlin Hicks, Roberts Creek
