MP Problems - By By By-Election

So, you know in the movies, or that novel you read that one time, or on television, or in countries all-too-often made politically unstable by the actions of the United States where the leader of a group is exiled, killed, or becomes too sick to lead and a bunch of the leader's 'number 2s' argue and fight amongst themselves to fill the power vacuum formed by the absence of the former leader? Yeah? Well, welcome to a by-election.

With the passing of Jim Flaherty, the Whitby-Oshawa riding has been left vacant, and Stephen Harper has called for a by-election to fill Flaherty's open seat in the House of Commons. With that said, it's not just Whitby-Oshawa residents who should be paying attention to the by-election, as it has greater ramifications than just deciding the Whitby-Oshawa representative. By-elections, because of their separation from the spectacle of national elections, make it easier for the riding's constituents to keep themselves informed about the particular candidates without getting lost in a larger procedure.
Because of these details, I'm making an effort to get people in the Whitby-Oshawa area involved in the election, but more importantly, informed. You see, political parties LOVE ill-educated voters. 

They don't want you thinking critically, and analysing their goals and the methods they're likely to use in order to achieve those goals. They just want people to go to the polls, drop a ballot in the box with a mark beside their candidate's name, and honestly? Most don't care how they get to that end so long as they win. They don't make it easy for you to get informed, more often than not using attack ads to move the spotlight away from themselves and onto the failures or weaknesses of their opponents, but you CAN educate yourself on the issues that matter the most to you, and the stances of the candidates (or their parties If they simply adhere to the party standard) and even confront them on those issues before election day to better gauge how they will represent you and your interests if they are elected.

And now, without any further ado, I bring you the candidates running in the Whitby-Oshawa by-election as well as their stances on a few issues that are important to me. If you would like to check in on their views regarding other issues, you can follow the links provided in the candidate descriptions and give their platforms a read-over.

Pat Perkins – Conservative Party of Ontario Candidate

Pat Perkins was formerly the Mayor of Whitby, and the Conservative party is banking on her mayoral visibility and history to ensure that the Whitby-Oshawa MP position remains a Blue one.
Pat's website, www.patperkins.ca focuses on the following points to support her campaign for Flaherty's empty House seat:

1. A Whitby representative since 1997
2. Eight years as mayor of Whitby
3. "Took Whitby out of debt over 4 years ago – and kept it that way"
4. "Ensured high quality services for the lowest possible taxes"
5. "400 new jobs on the way at the new GO maintenance facility"
6. "Expanded and upgraded the Iroquois Parks Sports complex and secured the Abilities Centre location"

Honestly? Not a terrible track record if you focus on these points. She has held a position in the public eye for seventeen years, been mayor for two terms, and Whitby rose out of debt as a municipality during her time as mayor. However, there are a couple of details that Pat Perkins and her team omit from these running points.

First off, being mayor does not grant you any more power on the city council (officially) than any other councillor except for the benefit of holding a "bully pulpit", a term coined by Theodore Roosevelt referring to the power that the mayor gains from being more prominent in the public's eye. When council votes, the mayor still only gets one tally for their name, which limits their actual decision-making power. Therefore the credit for the accomplishments of the Whitby council must be shared equally among the members who voted in favour of the programs that resulted in the city's development, not just with the mayor.

Unfortunately the negative aspects of her campaign page do not end with the omission of the "the mayor doesn't ACTUALLY have any more decision making power than the average councillor" detail. At the end of the page, after a video touting the accomplishments of Stephen Harper's Conservatives, Pat Perkins ends things on an attack-ad-style note with the following statements:

"We've done this by balancing the budget, lowering taxes, and working to find new opportunities for Canadians.
 But with the NDP and Liberals promising to raise taxes, increase spending, and let the "budget balance itself", only Canada's Conservatives can be trusted to run a G7 economy." – www.patperkins.ca


Folks, if there's one thing I can't stand in an election, it's people trying to prevent you from voting for a candidate rather than just telling your why their platform is one that is actually worth your vote. You should be voting FOR someone, not AGAISNT someone else. Remember that.

Celina Caesar-Chavannes – Liberal Party of Ontario Candidate

The Liberal party is hoping to take over the formerly-Conservative House of Commons seat left vacant by Jim Flaherty, and hoping that Ms. Caesar-Chavannes is the ticket winning it. Without an official candidate page on their website for Ms. Caesar-Chavannes, I have taken my data from http://www.liberal.ca/celina-caesarchavannes-nominated-liberal-candidate-byelection-whitbyoshawa/.

Celina Caesar-Chavannes' qualifications, as listed by the Liberal party are as follows:

1. "Deep roots in Whitby-Oshawa, where she lives with her husband and three children"
2. "A successful entrepreneur and distinguished research consultant"
3. Business entrepreneur of the Year in 2013 as named by the Toronto Board of Trade
4. Experience working in "a variety of private, government and non-government organizations"
5. "Active with a number of organizations such as the Congress of Black Women of Canada, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, and several governing councils within the University of Toronto"
6. "International lecturer on the inclusion of marginalized populations in clinical health research"
7. Holds a Bachelor of Science from UofT, an MBA in Healthcare Management from the University of Phoenix, and working on an Executive MBA from the Rotman School of Business at UofT

 Alright, some good stuff here. Active in the community, well-educated, and focuses on the plight of minorities. Ms. Caesar-Chavannes is essentially the archetypal Neo-Liberal, a socially-active individual of a visible minority with a verified history working in the white-collar business sector. No doubt the Liberals hope that Celina's blend of the traditional Liberal appeal with economic experience will help secure them a seat in the perennially Conservative Whitby-Oshawa riding.

My main concern here is a lack of listed political experience. Although she has been a strong, independent force within the institutions she's chosen for herself ("governing councils within the University of Toronto") there's no mention of any history in municipal, provincial or federal politics, and that level of inexperience lends itself well to being just another nodding head in a party's caucus.

Ending on a positive note, the article does NOT use attack-ad-style tactics to attempt to influence the voters. The Liberal party's post about Celina Caesar-Chavannes' nomination focuses solely on the strengths and qualifications of their candidate and, although they may not point out any weaknesses in their candidate, what party would? All-in-all, a respectable article for an inexperienced candidate.

 Trish Mcauliffe – New Democratic Party (NDP) Candidate

Finishing second in the 2011 federal election as an NDP candidate in the Whitby-Oshawa riding, Trish Mcauliffe and the New Democrats are hoping to move up into the late Flaherty's House seat with the upcoming by-election with a platform focused on social programs and working/middle class family benefits.

Unfortunately, Trish's NDP candidate page engages in some minor mudslinging tactics which upsets me since the NDP campaign as the representation of positive social interest. Her "About Trish" page attacks Stephen Harper which makes little sense to me as the page is, by its name's very definition, supposed to be focused solely on Trish, unless I missed it being renamed "Mainly Trish, with a side-order of Harper". Enough of the minor mudslinging qualms, here are Trish's posted qualifications, summarized from the main body text of her "About Trish" page and as presented in list format there:

1. NDP candidate in 2011, finishing with 22% of the popular vote
2. Lobbied successfully to keep Brooklin within the Whitby-Oshawa riding
3. Advocate for the elderly and disabled, particularly of the 1010Dundas Street East mobile home park
4. General Motors employee and an active CAW member ("educator and facilitator")
5. President of the Whitby-Oshawa NDP Riding Association
6. 2013 recipient of the CAW 222 Woman of Recognition Award
7. Certificate in Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) from Durham College

In short, Trish is a long-time union member and auto-sector worker with goals including abolishing the senate, instituting proportional representation (making the electoral system a more accurate representation of the actual number of votes cast for each party), and giving tax breaks to working and middle-class families.

One of the problems with her goals, although they are extremely admirable, is that as a people, Canadians are not very class conscious, and tend to believe that we're ALL "middle class" regardless of our financial standing. This makes targeting class boundaries in politics an extremely difficult strategy, as Canadians are less likely to be engaged by references to socio-economic classes when compared to many other Western societies. Also, the campaign for well-paying jobs when it comes to the NDP often results in higher taxes on businesses, which drive larger corporations out of an area, resulting in higher unemployment rates. When this happens you're forced to ask yourself if you'd rather be unemployed, or underemployed.

The Wrap-Up:

Honestly folks, none of the candidates really stand out for me. As far as the greater picture is concerned, the Conservatives have the best economic policy when it comes to keeping Canada in the black, but the Liberals are obviously looking to challenge the "Old White Guy's Club" of political economics and from the listed achievements and experience of their by-election candidate, it would seem that they are in a good position to do so. The NDP, on the other hand, openly support (or claim to support, but really, claims are all we have to go on from the parties) proportionate representation which is something that this country has been lacking for a long, LONG time.

I've sent a message to each candidate's official Facebook page asking them about the two main issues that I have with the nation's current state of affairs and I will be posted that message and any replies I receive in future posts running up to the by-election. If a candidate doesn't reply? You can bet your bottom dollar that I'll be letting you know about that as well.

I've created this blog to try and spread a little awareness when it comes to Durham Regional, Ontario provincial and national political issues, and I would like to thank you for taking the time out of your day to read my articles. I'll do my best to provide you with accurate, minimally-biased (I make no claims of being able to completely set aside bias, since much of it tends to be subconscious) reporting on current issues that affect me as a citizen, my region, province, and country. I hope you'll stick with me for the ride!

Until next time, keep'em honest everyone!

Joshua J. Taylor - Polit-Tactical Creator and Lead Writer