PACT Urges Uninformed Voters to Stay Home

"Democracy insures that we shall be governed no better than we deserve."  B. Shaw

TORONTO, Oct. 18, 2015 /CNW/ - PACT (Party for Accountability, Competency and Transparency) asks Canadian voters to spend at least 3 hours of balanced independent research, not including political ads, before they head out to the polls or to abstain from voting.

Michael Nicula, founder of PACT: "An uninformed vote is more damaging to our democracy than absenteeism. The political process is very serious business with long-term consequences on many aspects of our lives, as well as the lives of our children and grandchildren. It certainly deserves your attention at least the same duration as a baseball game. If you don't know the names of all Candidates in your District before you read them from the ballot and don't know the key aspects of the political platforms of the parties they represent – or at least the issues you care about – then please do us all a favour and abstain from voting."

For the most part, political advertising comes from the big parties and tells voters what they want to hear; long lists of empty promises, no details on how their platforms could actually materialize, and a lot of focus on "wedge" issues that are typically very small in the grand scheme, such as what not to wear in public or how many refugees we should welcome. The remaining political ads are negative, attacking ads, aiming to discredit opponents but only half truths. Candidates' debates fail to include all candidates, only the big parties are invited. Therefore you can't count on media to get the information you need to cast an informed vote. Fortunately, voters can find useful information online. The list of Candidates in your District is a good start.

Voters should also be aware of the political scandals each party is or was involved in, and look for signs of trouble ahead. Past behavior is the best predictor of future behavior.

The Liberal Party for example was angrily removed from power in 2006 because of a corruption scandal. Just days ahead of this year's elections, the co-chair of Trudeau's campaign resigned over some advice he gave the Oil Lobby on how to approach the new government. Seems that the "change" they offer is actually a "change back" to a corrupt government.

The main critics of the Liberals' lobbying scandal are the NDP, which are themselves snared in a scandal of their own although they have not been in government! As an example of how they treat taxpayers' money, their former MP Olivia Chow has resigned just months ahead of term in 2014 triggering a By-Election where her party lost the seat to the Liberals and the taxpayer has to foot the ~1 Million dollar bill for that. Just a few months later, the NDP nominated Olivia again! If she is elected, the taxpayers just wasted 1 Million and a lot of effort that goes along with a by-election. Good stewardship? You can judge.

The Conservative party does not need a recap of their own scandals because they are fresh in our memories. Robocalls, Senate appointments, Contempt rulings, Prorogation etc.

The Canadian political system desperately needs change and ironically the big traditional parties already represented in the Parliament claim to be agents of change. Sometimes even the party that won the previous elections makes such claims. In fact, all those parties have already learned how to use the electoral system and if they win, they will not be interested in changing the system anymore.

Voters must decide what kind of change they want; changing one corrupt government for another is not real change. That is why PACT is urging voters to inform themselves and hopefully pick a Candidate from a party that is not ensnared in scandals. Otherwise they risk of being disappointed yet again and find themselves looking for another chance in four years' time.

PACT is the Online Party of Canada; a registered federal political party represented in the 2015 elections in Spadina – Fort York.

SOURCE Party for Accountability, Competency and Transparency

Image with caption: "PACT - Party for Accountability, Competency and Transparency (CNW Group/Party for Accountability, Competency and Transparency)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20151018_C7800_PHOTO_EN_523208.jpg

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