Hamilton Municipal Elections are tomorrow between 9am to 9pm. For most people at Mac the voting station is Binkley Church near Boston Pizza. The MSU is organizing walkers at the student center fireplace that will take you to and back from the polling station.
Are you guys planning on voting? If so, any comments on which issues concern you the most and possibly which candidates you are going for?
Shameless plug here, but you can also check out the Sil's coverage of the elections starting with this article written by a rather clever young assistant news editor about the debate http://thesil.ca/blog/news/candidates-on-campus/
I encourage everyone to get out and vote tomorrow. Municipal politics is extremely important and relevant to everyday life.
Even if you're not supporting a candidate, support the system by getting out to vote and showing that you still believe in our democracy.
__________________ Chris Erl Honours B.A. History and Poli Sci (2012) M.A. Work and Society (2013)
Actually, if you're not supporting any candidate or you don't even know why or who you're voting for, don't vote. Don't vote blindly, stupidity is not democracy. (Well, except in the Us where they voted Bush twice.)
The lack of any substance to the candidate's platforms has left me pretty apathetic, to be completely honest. I can understand the low turnout from McMaster students at the last election- what's the point when none of the candidates seem to have any differences? The issue was especially pronounced in Bratina, Eisenberg and Di Ianni.
The only frontrunner (and I use that term loosely) who seems to have any concrete ideas is Baldasaro, and he really only has one. And I'm pretty sure he's not quite all there.
I still heavily encourage everyone to come vote- I'll actually be one of the people in the atrium walking people to the polling stations. But please don't support one of the big three just because you think they're the only ones with a chance of winning!
Shameless plug here, but you can also check out the Sil's coverage of the elections starting with this article written by a rather clever young assistant news editor about the debate http://thesil.ca/blog/news/candidates-on-campus/
I encourage everyone to get out and vote tomorrow. Municipal politics is extremely important and relevant to everyday life.
Even if you're not supporting a candidate, support the system by getting out to vote and showing that you still believe in our democracy.
...
What?
On topic: Don't believe in voting. And even if I did, I don't care.
__________________
Mathematically it makes about as much sense as (pineapple)$$*cucumbe r*.
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Don't believe in voting. And even if I did, I don't care.
Honestly, I'd tend to agree. I've never voted before, largely because there is almost never a substantial difference in the platforms of candidates, and likely a smaller difference in their actions.
However, I recently found out about how none of the candidates even attempted to make platform points that addressed student issues, because of our low voter turnout. Just showing up, even if you spoil your ballot or vote for a joke candidate, can have an impact on the next election.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Commander
Actually, if you're not supporting any candidate or you don't even know why or who you're voting for, don't vote. Don't vote blindly, stupidity is not democracy. (Well, except in the Us where they voted Bush twice.)
Same point as above, plus I wanted to include this:
If you have no idea who to vote for, then don't vote. But that is in no way an excuse not to figure out who to vote for.
I had been undecided until a couple days ago. And because, like you've said, there haven't really been any substantial policy proposals (Baldasaro's aside), it was really hard to finally come to a conclusion. However, I watched the debate in MUSC, as well as the real one on Channel 14, and have made a decision. I encourtage you, if nothing else, to at least read the campaign websites and try to get a feeling who you like best.
For any of you who want to know, I will personally be voting for Fred Eisenberger. I feel he has done a pretty decent job the past four years and think he is moving the city in the right direction. For someone who has run for the Conservatives in the past, I feel he has a very progressive and realistic platform.
I don't like Bratina's stance on revisiting amalgamation, his suggestion that LRT go to the airport, and his flip flopping on the stadium issue. DiIanni's previous discrepancies regarding campaign funding irk me, and though he has what I feel is the best policies for students, I have found he has been very lacking on specifics regarding the rest of the issues in the city.
Marlowe, Can you please elaborate on why you support Michael Baldasaro as your "frontrunner"? If you look at the questionnaire responses alot of his solutions were based on Marijuana/hemp farming. Even for bread and butter issues like Experiential Education/Summer Jobs and Retaining Graduates. I think he's an awesome guy to meet in person but Hemp planting in all honesty doesn't seem to be a solution to our problems at all. I would reckon knowledge based tertiary service and high tech secondary manufacturing industries are more likely to lead Hamilton into the 21st century
__________________ Huzaifa Saeed BA Hon, Political Science & Sociology, Class of 2013
Baldasaro is technically a frontrunner by virtue of coming fourth in the Spectator-Nanos poll released a week ago.
Quote:
Originally Posted by lawleypop
...
What?
On topic: Don't believe in voting. And even if I did, I don't care.
Hey, whatever floats your boat. For those of us that do care, voting is the perfect way to show your support for the system. Even if you spoil your ballot, your name is still marked off the voters list. The city uses that to calculate voter turnout which is used to determine a number of things. If 75% of the people in the city went out to vote, and a majority spoiled their ballots, they have shown that they still believe in their democracy, just not in their politicians.
If 35% of the people in the city go out an vote, then the people have shown not that they do not like their politicians, but that they do not respect the democratic system.
So fine, if you don't believe in voting, don't vote. But I truly hope that anyone who still believes in our system but doesn't like what the candidates have to say still goes out to vote.
__________________ Chris Erl Honours B.A. History and Poli Sci (2012) M.A. Work and Society (2013)
Marlowe, Can you please elaborate on why you support Michael Baldasaro as your "frontrunner"? If you look at the questionnaire responses alot of his solutions were based on Marijuana/hemp farming. Even for bread and butter issues like Experiential Education/Summer Jobs and Retaining Graduates. I think he's an awesome guy to meet in person but Hemp planting in all honesty doesn't seem to be a solution to our problems at all. I would reckon knowledge based tertiary service and high tech secondary manufacturing industries are more likely to lead Hamilton into the 21st century
Dude have you ever gotten high ??? I have and I get so many ideas man.
Baldasaro is technically a frontrunner by virtue of coming fourth in the Spectator-Nanos poll released a week ago.
Hey, whatever floats your boat. For those of us that do care, voting is the perfect way to show your support for the system. Even if you spoil your ballot, your name is still marked off the voters list. The city uses that to calculate voter turnout which is used to determine a number of things. If 75% of the people in the city went out to vote, and a majority spoiled their ballots, they have shown that they still believe in their democracy, just not in their politicians.
If 35% of the people in the city go out an vote, then the people have shown not that they do not like their politicians, but that they do not respect the democratic system.
So fine, if you don't believe in voting, don't vote. But I truly hope that anyone who still believes in our system but doesn't like what the candidates have to say still goes out to vote.
What a huge assumption to make... Do you always say statements like these as fact without any proof? >_>
__________________
Mathematically it makes about as much sense as (pineapple)$$*cucumbe r*.
Baldasaro is technically a frontrunner by virtue of coming fourth in the Spectator-Nanos poll released a week ago.
Hey, whatever floats your boat. For those of us that do care, voting is the perfect way to show your support for the system. Even if you spoil your ballot, your name is still marked off the voters list. The city uses that to calculate voter turnout which is used to determine a number of things. If 75% of the people in the city went out to vote, and a majority spoiled their ballots, they have shown that they still believe in their democracy, just not in their politicians.
If 35% of the people in the city go out an vote, then the people have shown not that they do not like their politicians, but that they do not respect the democratic system.
So fine, if you don't believe in voting, don't vote. But I truly hope that anyone who still believes in our system but doesn't like what the candidates have to say still goes out to vote.
Vote for the system ? That's the stupidest thing I've heard this week and believe me I hear lots of stupid stuff.
There's nothing democratic about the system.
The majority of Canadians are AGAISNT the War in Afghanistan, and the CAF is still deployed there.
Canadians can't possess certain kind of firearms and they can only have hunting rifle with license but it wasn't the people who decided that.
G20, Don't need to explain.
And the list goes on.
The government uses the word "democracy" to make people feel better and show mercy to the government when they f up.
There are still kings and they are always going to be kings.
Marlowe, Can you please elaborate on why you support Michael Baldasaro as your "frontrunner"? If you look at the questionnaire responses alot of his solutions were based on Marijuana/hemp farming. Even for bread and butter issues like Experiential Education/Summer Jobs and Retaining Graduates. I think he's an awesome guy to meet in person but Hemp planting in all honesty doesn't seem to be a solution to our problems at all. I would reckon knowledge based tertiary service and high tech secondary manufacturing industries are more likely to lead Hamilton into the 21st century
Pretty much what Chris said. I just meant that out of the candidates that polled the best in the Spec he was the only one who didn't seem to echo the exact same thoughts as the other candidates. There's very little difference in thought or platform between Bratina, Di Ianni and Eisenberg.
I did read his responses (which you should totally know since I posted about it on your facebook page ), and I found his responses much less than adequate. Not only because he had very little in the way of ideas, but because his writing style and grammar were awful. To me, that still puts him ahead of Eisenberg, who I suspect didn't fill out the questionnaire himself, and Bratina/Di Ianni who didn't fill it out at all. At least Baldasaro has one positive idea.
I roughly agree about Hamilton's future prospects- if it wants to prosper it needs to embrace jobs based on technology, education, and medicine. But quite frankly that isn't going to come from a municipal government. It will pretty much have to come from McMaster, because they're the only ones with the resources to wade through Hamilton's red tape, and because they're already too invested in Hamilton to go somewhere else. Perhaps the mayor could work to make it easier for businesses to come to Hamilton, but that doesn't seem to be a key issue for any of the major candidates (aside from vague platitudes about economic opportunities).
Plus he's entertaining as hell, which can't be understated.
I actually agree with Commander about representative democracy rarely representing the will of the people. And I think the three examples of hosting the G20, being in Afghanistan, and restrictive gun laws are all good examples of that happening in Canada. However, I still think voting is a good idea, since there is very little chance of a better system coming any time soon.
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