SOME LOCALS’ THOUGHTS ABOUT "STRATEGIC" VOTING IN THE 'COLUMBIA - KOOTENAY - SOUTHERN ROCKIES' RIDING (in advance of Advance Voting FOR THE 2025 CANADIAN ELECTION)
-- April 17th, 2025 --
I originally shared these thoughts on the 95EH Facebook page, which I then shared to the sometimes volatile “Kimberley Corkboard” community FB group (where the post has engaged 118 comments at my last count), and then I also broke all the words down into a PART 1 + PART 2 Instagram share (I also tried to share to a Cranbrook community FB group, but I did not make it past their moderation… which was probably for the best given the 118 comments the Corkboard post generated).However, one place I did not share these thoughts is over here on the ol’ MOUN.TOWN blahg (a domain I moderate myself) — SO — let me first start off by sharing the words that were first shared on the Metaverse (and then don’t forget to keep scrolling down to see an ongoing collection of all the All-Candidates Forum videos that have been posted from different municipalities in our 'Columbia – Kootenay – Southern Rockies' riding). ---
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There's been quite a lot of talk about "strategic" voting this election — with people sharing different websites & polls and telling others with certainty what the correct "strategy" is to make sure so & so becomes PM… as if that decision won't already be made before BC's votes are counted, eh?!
Personally, I have never cared about pre-election polls (they definitely aren't polling anyone I know around here) nor do I really care about anybody else's supposed "strategy" on how they think I should vote.
I only care to hear if a person's strategy is to get informed about who they are voting for on our riding's ballot, that they form their own subjective opinions based on the world they want to live in with others, and that they get engaged with the local conversation in whichever ways come up that they feel “brave/safe” enough to engage in (hopefully while also having an open mind & being ok with not everybody always agreeing with every point immediately, or even ever agreeing at all… but maybe that last bit is a bridge too far for some egos out there).
Anything other than that does not feel like an election “strategy” that I am interested in being involved with.
The way I look at things is: Our Columbia–Kootenay–Southern Rockies MP will be decided by the accumulation of waaaay more ballots than just mine. And I don't even kid myself that my one (1) vote will decide the PM of the entire country.
Therefore, I go into these elections by valuing those parties/people who actually talk about important to human rights/life issues in ways that I respect (which can be slim pickings), with words/actions (and actual policies) that don't contradict stuff I am aware of (I know, it’s a “high” bar to scale).
Then I try my best to get a sense of the actual human candidate in my riding that I would actually want representing my voice in Ottawa (ps - checking out an All-Candidates Forum in our riding is helpful for that, so please see further below for the embedded videos of those local riding forums that have been posted online so far)… and then I just vote for the person and/or party that I feel best represents my voice.
Because that is how things have been setup to work in this country.
This year, same as every year, I especially want politicians/parties that don't always blame "the other party/supporters" for everything overtly wrong with how our society has clearly been organized to the benefit of the few — especially if the finger-pointing is coming from either of the only two parties who have ever been in power in Canada on a federal level (and those two parties are the LIBS & the CONS for anyone not steeped in Tim Hortonland’s history).
And anyone can please go look at Elong Donald Doge in the "U!S!A!" right now for ongoing examples of just how openly farcical & fascist that whole grift can get — so please holler in the comments if you want some links to help with that exploration (although I talked a bit about that in last month’s newsletter + here’s a friendly British man if you’d like to start your research with a pinch of cheek, ALTHOUGH, please be warned that this reported madness is from more than a month ago & somehow things have continued to get dumber/scarier):
To the surprise of probably no one who has read this far, this usually means I either vote for the NDP or Greens as an often under-enthused Canadian voter (while cursing the Liberals for running on proportional representation all those years ago and then never implementing it when actually in power… setting us ALL up for another 'first past the post' election where the "progressive" vote gets split multiple ways, always giving the CONS a chance of winning a majority with waaaay less than 50% of the TOTAL vote).
This year, especially with the Green candidate not really having a local presence that I've seen yet (ie. they were not at the Kimberley debate + I don't think I've seen a sign in town + the Green Party wasn’t even included in the Federal Debates), I was genuinely impressed with how articulate & sharp the NDP’s Kallee Lins was at the McKim forum the other night (I know many others were too) —AND— especially given the voting data from this riding in previous elections (yes I know our riding has changed slightly), I feel like it is Kallee Lins and the NDP that truly have the best chance of sending a strong "progressive" candidate to parliament on this area's behalf (despite what national poll data may try to project from far away with flawed non-local polling data).
Because we vote for the MP of Columbia–Kootenay–Southern Rockies in this riding, not the Prime Minister of Canada.
So, for whatever it is worth, Kallee Lins of the NDP is where my one (1) vote is going this election — IN FACT — I might even early vote this year because I feel that "strategically" locked in (hence my aim to get this post up in advance of advanced voting started).
However, as I've stated elsewhere (ie. in this Facebook post + on Reddit + in this Instagram post that I wrote after Kimberley’s All-Candidates Forum, which included a question about “woke” that only Kallee has answered so far), I do genuinely hope Jim Wiedrick gets a lot of "conservative" people voting with their hearts & minds this election, as he's been able to engage some important conversations, like proportional representation (which Kallee is also passionate about), that otherwise often get immediately dismissed when brought up by anyone deemed to be on "the other side".
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The question I submitted to the forum that didn’t get asked in Kimberley was… Q: The word "woke" gets thrown around a lot these days. It is often used in a negative context, with prominent Canadian politicians using terms like "radical woke agenda" or "woke mind virus" to label others who want to openly discuss important societal topics like reconciliation and extreme income inequality. Especially during this chaotic moment in history, I think it would be very enlightening if we could hear each candidate speak on what their definition of "woke" is —AND— whether they think people in our riding should be worried about "wokeness" ruining the country?
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In closing, I will just add that I have included a very relevant chart I saw on Reddit recently that shows how this local area riding has voted historically the last 3 federal elections (it was found in the Kootenay Reddit community, if you’d like to check out the conversation that it generated over there, as there’s around 70 comments).
I hope anybody checking the chart out will pay attention to how well the NDP has done historically in this riding, how much the "progressive" vote count actually tallies up to in each election (ie. it is higher than the CONS), and… I hope people also remember just how many folks don't actually bother to get out and vote every election (so maybe more people need to start considering the "strategy" of openly engaging other locals in thoughtful political conversations that matter to the future world we all have to live in together, whether that be online or in person)!
And then I will just remind everyone to please ask Hilary Clinton about how much pre-election polls can be trusted for their post-election accuracy 🙃
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🚨 ALSO IMPORTANT: PLEASE DON’T FORGET TO CHECK THIS ONGOING COLLECTION OF ALL-CANDIDATES FORUM CONTEXT FOR THE 'COLUMBIA - KOOTENAY - SOUTHERN ROCKIES' RIDING 🚨
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• FORUM #1 - A ‘Columbia–Kootenay–Southern Rockies’ All-Candidates Forum WAS held in Kimberley, BC on April 11th, 2025 (hosted by the Kimberley Chamber of commerce):
Again, I shared my thoughts on this forum over on Facebook and Instagram and Reddit if you would like to read those, but my general gist was:
Kallee Lins (NDP) was the most impressive (to my brain & many others I’ve spoken to) — she made great points, talked about actual policies, and appears to have a sharp bs-detector. Reggie (LIBS) had high energy & strong url marketing + he also took a moment (after the crowd calmed down) to call out Rob Morrison (CONS) for going on a weird strawman-fearmongering tangent about Cranbrook drive-thrus & scary folks with baseball bats, and Jim Wiedrick (INDEPENDENT) was very likeable & well-spoken… with a booming voice made for radio/stage that reiminds of Jeff Goldblum (and I stand by that reporting).
There were actually a few notable moments throughout the Kimberley forum (ie. the CBC discussion was another loud point, there was a pretty direct asking of a certain "controversial" Palestine topic that I believe one candidate notably avoided sharing their opinion on, a women's right to choose came up, I have a note that just says "reverse town hall" & "portals" + more) — so the whole thing really is worth a watch/listen (but I say that as a biased Kimberlite) 👍
• FORUM #2 - A ‘Columbia–Kootenay–Southern Rockies’ All-Candidates Forum was held in CRANBROOK, BC on April 14th, 2025 (hosted by JCI KOOTENAY):
I have only attended the Kimberley, BC All-Candidates Forum in person (as I live in Kimberley, BC), and I have not watched the Cranbrook forum yet (as the video only got posted/shared online on April 17th). However, an engaged local named Livia did attend in person + they took the time to share some of their thoughts on their Facebook, so, for now, I will just share a link to what her subjective opinions were from the night (and maybe I will come back to add my own thoughts once I watch the video myself, if I have time / anything to add).
• FORUM #3 - A ‘Columbia–Kootenay–Southern Rockies’ All-Candidates Forum held in INVERMERE, BC on April 15th, 2025 (hosted by Columbia Valley Chamber of commerce):
I have watched this entire video, and my main takeaway (which I also shared on the 95EH Facebook) is:
If you don't have time to watch the entire Columbia Valley All-Candidates Forum, I highly recommend jumping to around the 27:40 mark to hear the candidates talk about Proportional Representation — BECAUSE — Jim Wiedrick and Kallee Lins confidently knock the question out of the park (because they are both openly against this broken & flawed 'first past the post' voting system), while Reggie sheepishly has to talk around how Proportional Representation was one of the big Liberal campaign lies of the last decade, and then Rob Morrison stood up to say that he doesn't support Proportional Representation (because the CONS always have a chance to govern with less than 50% of the vote with a 'first past the post' system… except he explained it as if Proportional Representation was somehow far too complicated to explain how it actually works so we just shouldn't bother with it).
• FORUM #4 - A ‘Columbia–Kootenay–Southern Rockies’ All-Candidates Forum WAS held in SPARWOOD, BC on April 16th, 2025 (and you can watch that video over on the Sparwood Chamber of Commerce’s Facebook Page):
Again, if you want to watch the All-Candidates Forum that hosted in Sparwood on April 16th, you have to watch over on the Facebook (and I have not watched this forum yet myself).
• FORUM #5 - A ‘Columbia–Kootenay–Southern Rockies’ All-Candidates Forum Was held in FERNIE, BC on April 17th, 2025 (I WILL POST THE VIDEO OF THAT IF/WHEN IT GETS POSTED ONLINE):
If I am missing any forums that have already taken place (especially if there are video recordings of the event), please let me know in the comments or on the socials.
• FORUM #6 and FORUM #7 - According to an article I found whilst googling, there will also be some All-Candidate Forums being held in Nelson, BC on April 23rd (hosted by Nelson Chamber of Commerce) and in Rossland, BC on April 24th (hosted by Trail & District Chamber of Commerce), so I will keep an eye out for videos of those too (and Jim Wiedrick mentioned that there was a forum held in Elkford, but he’s not sure if it was recorded).
And, of course, lest we forget the big Federal All-Candidates Forum happening on the CBC on April 17th:
I watched this… so here are my main thoughts:
• These debates are often full of pointless attempted point making, with each candidate re-framing their answers to never really answer a question (so it becomes a lot of ‘talking head talking points’). Somehow this reality doesn’t seem to ever make candidates realize that there is no point in attempting to waste time asking clever “gotcha!” questions in an environment where: nobody is answering any questions directly, there is no fact checking, and there isn’t usually enough time given for anyone to properly answer any serious question anyways (and this was best highlighted when the candidates were asked to say who Canada’s biggest threat was… “and you each have 10 seconds to respond”.
• I often describe Pierre Poilievre’s whole vibe as “Ben Shapiro cosplaying as Stephen Harper” and I still think that is a pretty accurate description of what his essence exudes — HOWEVER — I would say that last night he much more came across as that ‘debate boy turned salesman’ that gets sent by the wealth exploiting & hoarding CEOs of Big Industry Incorporated to talk on their behalf (y’know, to continue selling us all on that beautiful corporate-owned vision for Canada and all her valuable resources, including whatever human labour cannot be found cheaper elsewhere, that they would like to continue to exploit for none-of-your-business hoarding reasons). Don’t worry though, he only wants to remove charter rights for certain people, never you or your neighbour (and there’s no reason to worry about what governments can do once they start putting asterisks next to certain humans in regard to certain human rights)!
• Another example of how dumb these debates can be is when Pierre tried to catch Carney in a long-winded setup for a “Gotcha!” question that basically asked for a dollar amount on how much a Canadian car is going to increase in price (because cars are made with lots of steel, and only a true “boot not suit” would know everyday normal human stuff like that). Of course, Carney did not give a dollar amount (probably because it’s an insincere question that would require varied answers based on different factors), which Pierre tried to smirk like he just had a big dumb moment… and then Jagmeet pointed out “Why don’t you just tell us the number Pierre? Do you even know what the number is?” — and then Carney said something like “I actually do know the number”, but, low & behold, nobody ever ended up saying the number (because who cares what the number is because that’s not the point because the point is… I guess to just keep talking around the actual root causes of our many societal issues).
• For me, the most telling moment of the debate was when they were asked about Israel/Palestine (happens around the 3:31:50 mark) — because Pierre looks down the camera and says “I stand with the concept of colonialism and imperialism”, Carney kinda does the “It’s complicated in that I am not allowed to use certain words when discussing this”, while Jagmeet called an ongoing genocide a genocide.
• Yes, I know the Bloc guy also said stuff last night (some things I enojoyed hearing, somethings made my face do that thing it does when I hear something that makes me go “Really? You think out loud that way about that topic too” —BUT— to be totally honest, I don’t think some guy all the way over in BC is who the Bloc guy is trying to talk to (although it does create an interesting dynamic when three politicians are trying to make promises to all the provinces & territories and the Bloc guy gets to sit back and go, “Quebec has not agreed to what you’re telling the other provinces and I am only here to speak on behalf of Quebec’s interests so I don’t care about you needing to make promises to all the other provinces”).
• If I was voting on Prime Minister (which I am not, as discussed previously in this blog post), I would definitely vote for Jagmeet Singh of the NDP. I appreciated his answers and messaging the most (even if he did seem to get the least amount of time to talk… although I wish he would have used more of his time to address Pierre and the CONS, as him/they seem like a much greater threat to “progressive” values).
I might add some more thoughts (ie. seems a bit lame that the Greens aren’t included in the debates + “where’s the women?” as the missus pointed out + Rebel News + etc), HOWEVER, for now, I will just say that both Mark Carney and Jagmeet Singh are not too uptight to be able to handle doing a Nardwuar interview, while Pierre Poilievre unsurprisingly declined to do an interview with Nardwuar just like Stephen Harper (kind of like how he also declines news reporter questions & follow-up questions & refuses to get a government security clearance… which totally seems like the kind of shady dweeb behaviour that hardened conspiracy-lovers would have a huge problem with, BUT, I suppose that’s why I suck at conspiracies and keep getting stuck on plain old reality — bloody “wokeness”, I swear, it’ll be the death of me)!
🗳 🍻 ✌
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Jeremy / HI54LOFI
95EH's temp intern + VP of a garden