Voting is very important, but making the decision about who to vote for can be difficult. There is a great deal of information floating around out there and you seldom find a party or candidate whose views are exactly in line with your own. What is a conscientious voter to do?
You certainly need to inform yourself about the front-and-centre issues in the campaign, but you also need to keep in mind that you are choosing a government for the next four years, and it can be difficult to predict what the major issues will be four years from now. When you voted in the 2018 election, did you know that the government you chose would be dealing with a major pandemic? Therefore, you need to choose a government based on its basic philosophy of governing, its ability to handle difficult situations, and its competence in delivering.
If you watched the televised leaders’ debate last week, you were treated to a buffet of numbers tossed out very quickly. How do you assess the accuracy or importance of all this? “Your government reduced expenditures on unicorns by x millions of dollars.” “When your government was in power, the cost of widgets increased by y percent.” How does the average voter assess the accuracy of these claims? Even the professional fact-checkers are stymied by the fact that the calculation of percentage change has to do with which base year you use, and change in expenditure on unicorns depends on what you include as going for unicorns. It’s a muddle.
My suggestion is to forget about the trees and concentrate on the forest. If you do that, some differences between parties become clearer. Let’s go for a broad overview of what the parties have said in this campaign. This summary draws on the parties’ published platforms and some statements that have been made on the campaign trail.
The Conservative Party’s slogan is “Let’s get it done.” The party is focussed on major infrastructure projects, exemplified by construction of Highway 413 and construction of new hospitals and improvement of existing ones.
The party’s program for people promises more skill training, more jobs in manufacturing, and alliances with clean steelmakers. It also promises to hire more healthcare workers. There has been little discussion of the “new economy,” the high-tech sector.
There seems to be no detailed plan to deal with affordability, although there is a commitment to reduce costs by cutting the gas tax, eliminating the annual vehicle sticker fee, and eliminating tolls on two short roads east of Toronto.
The general idea is that the Conservative Party is focused on working through the private sector to create more jobs in construction and manufacturing. There is no mention of the new digital economy. During the debate, the Premier mentioned reducing regulation several times.
My apologies if I have overlooked some aspects of the Conservative agenda. As a reasonably experienced web researcher, I was able to find the platforms of the Greens (64 pages), Liberals (82 pages), and NDP (192 pages) fairly easily. I could not locate a platform document for the Conservatives. When I went to the “Get It Done” website, I could get a lawn sign, volunteer, or donate, but it was decidedly one-directional. I could not leave a message or ask a question. (I was able to leave a query on the website of a local candidate, but a day later, I have not received a response.) There were also some fragments telling me some things that the party planned do and others criticizing other parties, but I was unable to locate one place that clearly and systematically described the party’s platform. This could be a reflection of my search skills, but you would think that a party would want to make this sort of thing easy to find.
As a reasonably experienced web researcher, I was able to find the platforms of the Greens (64 pages), Liberals (82 pages), and NDP (192 pages) fairly easily
The Liberal platform was written is a way that emphasized the impact it would have on people. It began with a commitment to affordability in the form of increasing the minimum wage, implementing comprehensive rent controls, and stimulating home building.
The platform also promises to guarantee home care, end for-profit long-term care, and eliminate the surgical backlog. It also promises to increase expenditure on education by improving school buildings and hiring more teachers. It also recognizes environmental concerns by promising to reduce carbon pollution, increase green space, and reduce transit fares.
The NDP platform was also written from the standpoint of the impact that its policies would have on people. Its major theme is “quality public services you can count on.” It promises an end to privatization in health care and electricity.
It deals with affordability through comprehensive rent controls, affordable child care, and cheaper auto insurance. In the healthcare sector, it promises pharmacare, better access to mental health care, and extension of publicly funded dental care. There is also an emphasis on carbon pricing and dealing with climate change.
Predictably, the Green Party sees issues through an environmental lens, but it does have a comprehensive platform. It does not make the same specific commitments that other parties do like pharmacare, but it does recognize the need for more funding for healthcare. Its platform generally takes a holistic approach to issues. For example, it notes that the “connected communities” that it advocates would be both more environment-friendly and better places to live.
There are some clear contrasts among the parties. The Conservatives focus on the private sector, while the NDP is unabashedly about public provision of services. The Conservatives have focussed on infrastructure, but have not said much about climate change. The Liberals and NDP both make significant reference to environmental issues, but the Green Party is the only party which has a well-developed comprehensive approach to dealing with climate change. All parties have made significant commitments in the field of healthcare. The Conservatives have committed to major expenditure on buildings and hiring more staff. The NDP has been more specific about its commitment to mental health, pharmacare and dental care. Not surprisingly, the Green Party stands out for its comprehensive approach to environmental issues, although the Liberals and NDP also make strong references to concern for environmental issues.
Space prevents me from going into more detail on these issues, but you should do some digging on the issues that are important to you. The important message is to inform yourself and then get out and vote. ◆
David Siegel is a Brock Emeritus Professor of Political Science.
