At the federal candidates forum on environmental issues on October 3, 2019 at the University PEI, here’s what Liberal incumbent Sean Casey finished with (emphasis mine):
I want to talk now to progressive voters, and I think everyone here would put themselves in that category. On October 22, Canada’s going to have Prime Minister Andrew Scheer or Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
I think that anyone that honestly believes that there’s a third possibility probably isn’t following the news. There’s only one way to stop Andrew Scheer, and anyone that cares about progressive values will want to stop Andrew Sheer.
Is the risk of voting with your heart worth it?
Cynical fear-mongering aside, the calculus of this doesn’t made sense.
A vote for Sean Casey results in, well, more Sean Casey.
No matter the national result, a vote for Green candidate Darcie Lanthier — the “voting with your heart” option, in Mr. Casey’s take, I imagine — results in effective representation from an enthusiastic new legislator as part of a larger Green caucus working to leverage Green values into Parliament’s agenda, and an MP who will not only work hard for Charlottetown, but is sure to be a national figure.
That not only seems like a vote my heart can live with, but makes a lot of sense to my head as well.
(Video clip from Environmental Coalition of PEI Livestream of the meeting)
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Comments
To me, the Liberal Party lost
To me, the Liberal Party lost their chance to make those arguments when they didn't go through with their pre-2015-election commitment to getting rid of the first-past-the-post system that results in base electoral calculus like that.
Either they wanted a system where they can present binary choices like this, or they didn't care enough. Neither is a flattering look.
Thumbs up to that!
Thumbs up to that!
Not to mention that in
Not to mention that in Charlottetown the CPC candidate is likely not competitive, so voters there don’t need to be concerned with this! I’ve been seeing a lot of Liberal MP’s fear mongering like this! Disappointing.
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