Ryan Stuart, explore's gear editor

Election 2008 - vote for nature

• Posted on October 8, 2008 at 12:54 PM
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Election day is approaching fast, which means its almost time to make a decision: Who are you going to vote for? If you feel like I do, none of the parties are a perfect fit.

I live in the North Island riding where the last two elections have been squeakers. It's a diverse and huge riding, extending from just north of Parksville on Vancouver Island, to the northern tip of the Island and then up the Central Coast. Most of the population is in the Comox Valley and Campbell River, but almost half is spread through rural areas as well. In 2006, the NDP candidate beat out the Conservative by about 600 votes. Expectations are for an equally close vote this time.

Many people here are focusing on voting strategically. Some don't want to elect a Conservative so they're putting their votes behind the NDP candidate even though they really support the Green Party or Liberals. Some are swinging the other way. It's hard to know what the right thing is to do. So, as the days count down I've decided to peg my vote on the party that has the best policies for the places that matter the most to me: rivers, mountains, wildlife, oceans, parks and climate change. Of course I'll hedge that against economic, cultural and international affairs agendas.

Since you're here I figure these things matter to you too. Here are some links to a few websites that will give you tools for dissecting the rhetoric and posturing of the five major parties. Most are non-profit sites so they can't actually recommend a party to vote for, just give you questions and thoughts to consider and ask your politicians about. Hope they help you make the best choice for you.

TomorrowTodayCanada.ca - a one stop shop. Various environmental orgs get the answers to the questions that matter most to them. David Suzuki - blogs and more from one of Canada's top environmentalists Nature Canada - the questions to ask on major nature topics. Green Peace - responses from the parties on a selection of questions.