So I decided I’d go voting today, but I realised as I was thinking about just who I was going to vote for, that I’d been so fixated on the referendum, I hadn’t actually made up my mind on the election part.

In Toronto, most ridings remain pretty much fixed from election to election. A few ridings contain brave souls prepared to change their MPP, try out a new person, slap the old incumbent out of the ballpark for not representing them in government the way they wished; but most of us live in ridings inhabited by lemmings who will not, no matter how crappy the incumbent is or the incumbent’s party is, change their vote. In contrast, the province has changed this fearful habit. For 43 years, the Conservatives ruled Ontario, then the party fell under Premier Bill Davis’ successor, and we went from a lameduck Conservative to a minority Liberal to an NDP majority to union-organized Conservative majorities — a very different kind of Conservative party I might add from the Davis years — to the crooked Liberals. So it seems the province as a whole is much more creative, imaginative, and risk taking than Toronto is. That might be part of the reason for our slow slide down, but that’s a different topic. Right now, I need to figure out who to vote for, and it’s not easy.

If you live in Toronto, you have your choice of Liberal, Liberal, or maybe the odd NDP party member as the incumbent. Many of these incumbents have a firm grip on their ridings, and it’s so bad in some ridings that the opposing parties toss in some lameducks just so that they can say they’re running candidates in every riding. So what are you going to do as a Toronto voter who wishes to vote in a new MPP and not the incumbent? That’s my conundrum.

I don’t wish to vote for the Liberal party. They’ve done nada for Toronto and promise nada for the future. Plus both times they’ve been in power, they’ve proven themselves to be a bunch of crooks, to put it bluntly. They break promises willy nilly, then smooth- talk you into believing it was a good thing. Witness the health tax. There was a huge outcry over it; there were continuing harsh criticisms of it; the media immediately attacked it when the election began. Then Dalton McGuinty said how can you get rid of it, it gives us so much money. Like Pavlov’s dog, the media turned and attacked Tory and Hampton, sort of, for promising that they will (partly) phase out the health tax. Suddenly, that broken promise has become a good thing. Sheesh.

I don’t wish to vote for the NDP because quite frankly I don’t like the candidate in my riding. I’m also concerned about the NDP’s ability to govern, although I think they’ve learnt their lesson from the last time. I’m also concerned that they won’t go toe-to-toe with Miller to save this city.

I’d like to vote Conservative as I think John Tory is our last great hope for fixing Toronto before Miller and City Council kill it once and for all, but there are few ridings where the Conservative candidate stands a chance and is worthy of a vote. Don Valley West is one of those. I happen to be one of those voters who believes in voting for the leader of the party if the leader is running in my riding, no matter what party it is. John Tory has a real shot of winning the riding. He’s lived there most of his life, he knows the issues, and Don Valley West may have voters willing to try something of a non-Liberal, non-NDP flavour.

I thought about voting for the Green Party then realised with a shock I had no idea what their platform is. How can I make an informed choice if I don’t know the platforms of the main parties? I surfed to their website and immediately liked what they had to say about advance voting. Some of their transit policy is radical, and the garbage policy has ideas in it that would help. But I wonder. My vote for the Green Party will be of interest to the pundits who collect election stats, but won’t have a discernible effect on the Legislature.

I thought about registering a non-vote. I’ve done that before. A non-vote would tell the parties that I’m not impressed with the incumbent and I’m not impressed with the losers the other parties put in to run against the incumbent. At the very least, it’ll save me from having to make a decision that will have no effect anyway on the outcome.

Now then, if I was in this same scenario, but could vote the MMP way, my decision-making process would be very different.

First off, all the parties might run decent candidates as they’d know people would be looking more at the individuals who represent them for vote number one, given that on vote number two they could ensure the party they like gets their vote. This solves the issue of right candiate, wrong party.

So let’s say I’m in an NDP riding and I like the Liberal candidate (cough, gag, not true now, but for the sake of argument). I can vote for the Liberal, knowing I have another vote for the party I want to see in power. It won’t matter that the Liberal will lose because my second vote for the party will absolutely count in the final tally of seats for the Legislature. My vote will also tell the NDP I don’t like you, tell the Liberals that I like your candidate, and the Conservatives that I like your party.

Under MMP, this would be a much easier decision for me!

But alas I still live in the first-past-the-post system and am stuck. So what to do? Make the pundits happy or save myself the agony of a futile decision? One thing at least, I’ll be voting for MMP in the referendum. And if enough of you join me, the next election won’t be so difficult to decide.

Related posts:

1. 2006 Federal Elections Advance Voting
2. MMP or First Past the Post? You Decide.
3. MMP Criticized
4. Time to Vote! Doesn’t that make you feel warm and fuzzy?
5. PM Motivational Speech