Proposed Alliance/Pc party

[ivbinconned]

I guess that dismissing some one elses views and words as "crap" or "garbage" with out the slightest attempt to counter with intelligent debate must feel real good.

It completely eliminates the need to think.

[cakadu]

Believe it or not, there are some commonalities in this thread. Many of the parties have been around for a while and have witnessed much political ado over the years.

Another commonality is the feeling that there is a need for change and recognizing that what we have had up to now, hasn't been working for all of us the way it could be.

It appears to me that there is some agreement that new leadership and new ways of doing things are the order of business for a better future for all Canadians.

How we get there is another story. I agree with Cowman that we don't need to all agree with one another even though we should try and understand the other persons point of view. Understanding does NOT mean agreement.

I for one believe that out of debate - with the personal kept out of it - grow the answers that will help to build a better tomorrow. It wouldn't be a very interesting nor forward thinking or moving world if we all agreed.

Apathy is what hurts us a lot - each election we hear of numbers going down in terms of voter turnout. When was the last time we had more than 60% vote? From a political standpoint one of the few things that bothers me is when people point out what the politicians are doing wrong and they never voted -whether it be in the municipal, provincial or federal elections.

I also believe that along with the statements about what the problems are have to come solutions. My mom always told me that one must be careful with finger pointing because there are always 3 pointing back at you.

How can we ensure that positive change occurs?

[cowman]

You are totally right about the apathy thing Linda. We are better than the USA but it is still pretty sad. Municipal elections seem to be the worst and yet they affect our lives in a big way. The lack of political parties in the municipal elections should give us a better choice of candidate and yet it doesn't. We tend to either get two people running in a district or one declared by acclamation!
In Alberta most of us don't really get a choice provincially or federally! Only at the party nomination level. I mean if you are the PC rep at the provincial level you are in. At the federal level if you are Reform/Alliance you are in. The ones who can't stomach those candidates vote the protest vote...liberal, NDP, Rhinosorous or various radical parties that come and go! Well I'm getting tired of voting the protest vote!
So provincial and federal politics are in fact a wash, but not municipal politics! Because there actually is a chance for change and responsible government at that level! Those county politicians are where the rubber meets the road(literally!) and they seem to be the most effective! If your road is bad you just give your councillor a call and things happen! If you call your MLA or MP you get a form letter thanking you for your concern, there working like beavers etc.etc. You know the old kiss off?