Nation, we all know where we stand on the election, which has now been officially set for October 14th - the day after Thanksgiving. The 39th Parliament has been dissolved, and we're going to the polls. All because Stephen didn't want to have to face the electorate with the stigma of his government having been "defeated" on a confidence motion.
I myself will be casting a ballot in the Prime Minister's home riding ("home" riding being a bit of a misnomer, as his Calgary home is actually in another riding altogether). However, the millions of eligible Canadian voters who rely on this site to form their opinions won't be satisfied with a daily re-cap of the electioneering happening in Calgary South-West. They expect more from the Lord of the Bloggers - and they shall have it.
The Enlightened Savage will be your official Albertan headquarters for non-partisan coverage of this Federal election, Canada's 40th. I say non-partisan, because I'm not in love with ANY of the parties that are running in this election - and I don't know if I trust any of them to exercise my franchise for me free of any outside influence or agenda. So, I'm personally going to do what we should ALL do - vote for the candidate in my riding most likely to represent my views accurately in the House of Commons. Who that is, I'm not sure yet. But, much like callers to the Wild Rose Forum on CBC Radio One this past week (the guests were 2 wonderful gentlemen named Nenshi and Chapman, I believe), I'm not happy about the election call, but I'm going to cast an informed vote because that's the price to be paid for living in a representative democracy. My coverage, though, will be as non-partisan as possible.
So what you will NOT be reading here is "Stephen Harper is the devil and he doesn't care about the environment and David Suzuki said it so it must be true". Or, "Stephane Dion is an egghead intellectual who hates Alberta". We're going to raise the level of debate in this election - and you're going to help me with your comments. There will be frequent polls on the right-hand side of this site, starting with today's. There will be a lot of well thought-out debates going on in the comments sections of these posts. And when we're done, Canadian voters will have the government they deserve - either because they paid attention and voted appropriately, or because they didn't.
Alberta has 28 ridings. 9 other provinces will get a brief look, as will the territories. As always, if anything comes up that demands attention, you'll find it here. For each Alberta riding, you'll get information about the riding, a brief look at the candidates themselves (and a link to their websites, if available), as well as analysis as to which candidate among the list you should take a closer look at... either because they deserve more support than they may otherwise get, or because they deserve far LESS support than they're likely to get.
The provisional schedule looks like this:
September 9: Edmonton—Strathcona, Calgary West
September 10: Yukon Territory
September 11: Calgary Northeast, Edmonton—Sherwood Park
September 13: British Columbia
September 14: Crowfoot, Edmonton Centre
September 16: Saskatchewan
September 17: Calgary East, Wild Rose
September 18: Manitoba
September 20: Edmonton—Mill Woods—Beaumont, Calgary Southeast
September 22: Quebec
September 23: Edmonton—St. Albert, Lethbridge
September 24: Northwest Territories
September 26: Edmonton—Spruce Grove, Fort McMurray—Athabasca
September 27: Calgary Southwest, Edmonton—Leduc
September 29: Ontario
October 1: Macleod, Peace River
October 2: Prince Edward Island
October 3: Calgary Centre-North, Medicine Hat
October 4: Nunavut
October 5: Red Deer, Vegreville—Wainwright
October 6: Nova Scotia
October 7: Westlock—St. Paul, Calgary Centre
October 9: Newfoundland & Labrador
October 10: Wetaskiwin, Calgary—Nose Hill
October 11: New Brunswick
October 12: Edmonton East, Yellowhead
Also on the right-hand side of the page, find the box labelled "Voter's Tool-Kit", which should help all voters across the country figure out which riding they live in, and other information vital to making an INFORMED choice on October the 14th.
Once more unto the breach, dear friends...
- E.S.
... an attempt to make sense of politics and political happenings in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, and North America.
2 comments:
Like Stephen Harper,I live in Calgary West.
I am aware that we currently have a Conservative MP, although he has been largely invisible, even during the last campaign. I am aware that there is an 'independent conservative', who presents an alternative to those on the right side of the political spectrum that are, bluntly, pissed off at the manipulation we saw take place during the so-called nomination process.
I have no idea whether the Liberals or the NDP have or intend to have a candidate.
I have no doubt that the Greens will run someone who will use that David Suzuki line you recited.
Like a huge portion of the electorate, I am not happy with this election at this time.
But, I will vote. Why? Because I care. My vote does count. My caring counts. I will endeavor to become more informed about the issues I know a little about. I will endeavor to learn about those candidates who I believe will best represent my views in parliament.
And I will thank the Enlightened Savage for helping me, in part, to do that.
Looking forward to your insight as always ES.
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