What's in a Name?

I was relaxing and enjoying my day off when there was a knock at the door. Now it's pretty rare for me to have company... And I certainly wasn't expecting anyone. I answer the door and a woman is there about the upcoming election. Well the election that hasn't even been announced yet. First of all I will say that she was there from the Marxist-Leninist Party. The emphasis was on election reform and changing things in Canada... while pointing to things that have lost favour with the public, like the military presence in Afghanistan. She wanted my signature as they need at least 100 signatures supporting a nomination to go ahead with it. I figured why not. And I am sure some people are wondering what I was thinking in that decision. For one I think that people should have choice and that maybe there should be more then the 3 top political parties. And really I was apathetic and was considering not voting this time around. It's about f*#$ing with them. They think they have my support but really I am just disillusioned and don't believe in what any of them are selling.

I would really like to know why they chose that name... I mean are they hoping that people just won't know what Marx and Lenin stood for? I am assuming that it's because words like communist and socialism don't tend to garner much favour. Even while I was signing my name I was wondering if I was suddenly going to wind up on a watch list. It was like a throw back to days gone by... not that I would remember those days since I wasn't born yet.

She even left me with a page outling their goals... beliefs... I am a little scared to read it. It's all about their rhetoric. Do I believe that there needs to be change? Yes.... But not this. However, I do think they should be given their chance... maybe even shake things up a little...

Steal From the Losers

So now that the election is over and the Liberals are in I am thinking that it would be nice for them to steal the best ideas from their opponents platform. Little from column A and a little from column B. I'm still not going to see any reform for student loans :( but there were ideas from each party that I thought were really good.

The NDP wanted to bring in a dental plan for low-income families. My only question is where do you draw the line? There are a lot of people that do not get dental coverage from their employment and many of them can't afford the high costs of dental care yet would likely be excluded. Perhaps implement a sliding payment scale so that the more money you earn the more you have to pay but still make it low enough that people can afford the dental care. I do believe that dental care is linked to health care. Even just an untreated cavity can turn into an infection. If treatment is done early enough it prevents further problems. But if left untreated the person may wind up needing to have the tooth extracted or a root canal done. Other health problems include sinus infections and TMJ. TMJ is typically treated by dentists, often with a nightguard or possibly even surgery. But without a dentist... or the $300 for a nightguard.... it causes severe pain in the jaw and a grinding down of the teeth. I know that it would be expensive but what price can you put on health? So I would like to see a dental plan.

One of the lesser known platforms of the Conservatives was about medical records. Of course in following the media coverage did they have any platforms other then providing funding for faith based schools and bringing back Canadian trained doctors? Speaking of the idea to bring back Canadian trained doctors they left because they could make a lot more money in the States. Why spend that kind of money to try and bring them back? Would it not cost less and make more sense to bring in foreign trained doctors as long as they were properly trained? But back to the medical records. The conservatives wanted to bring in electronic records which I think makes a lot of sense. That way doctors can easily access patient records. Right now my childhood doctor has some of the records. The school has some of my records. Various hospitals have other records. And now my new family doctor also has some. It would be handy if the doctor (whether it be a family doctor, specialist, or ER doctor) could access all of the records That way they would have a more complete look at your entire medical history instead of just a brief snapshot. I would just recommend that they also keep a hard copy. I don't completely have faith in technology. But being 2007 I think it is about time that this information go electronic.

Election Results

So now that the dust has settled and Ontario has voted it seems that the Liberals have another majority government which is what was predicted. I am not sure if it was won based on actual platforms, attacking the opponents or because of a mistake made by the Conservatives. There is no question that the decision to provide funding to faith based schools caused some flak but then to rescind that platform halfway through might have been an even bigger mistake.

I question whether or not you can truly call it a democracy however. Take my local riding for instance. Only 59% of voters even turned out. And of those 59% 48% voted for the Liberal candidate. So really only 28% of the people in Petborough actually voted for him. Does that mean that he really represents Peterborough? More like he represents about half the people who bothered to get off their ass and vote.

What makes it even sadder is that this is not just a local problem. Only 51.4% of eligible voters went to the polls and cast a ballot. So when the Liberals achieved their majority government they really only represent about 25% of the entire population. Something seems kind of wrong with that picture and with our sense of democracy. The Liberals are cheering their victory and having a majority government but they should really be concerned with the level of voter apathy.

Got Out to Vote

Today I went out to vote. I wasn't sure I really wanted to. I am still pretty apathetic about it and am not sure that any of them are saying anything that will really benefit me. But I know that if I don't make the effort I really can't complain about what decisions are made and what laws are passed. So I did my civic duty and got out to vote.