With the hope of influencing the upcoming federal election to defeat Prime Minister Stephen Harper and the Conservatives, more than 100 people assembled at Roberts Creek Hall on May 20 for an election strategy discussion.
The meeting, dubbed Caring for Canada: Think Federal Election Strategies, was co-sponsored by Alliance 4 Democracy and Sunshine Coast Senior Citizens (COSCO) and chaired by Jef Keighley of COSCO.
Keighley made it clear the meeting was about finding ways to get rid of Harper and his Conservative government in the upcoming federal election.
“Stephen Harper, as we know, has run the most ideological government and fear-laden government in the history of the country and we’re not going to go into the litany of that. You wouldn’t be here if you didn’t already feel that way,” Keighley said.
He suggested that in the upcoming election voters may have to throw their vote behind a party they don’t totally support in order to oust Harper.
“More and more Canadians have come to the conclusion that … for the sake of the country, Harper has to go, and that’s part of what strategic voting has to do. Within the Alliance 4 Democracy and within the Sunshine Coast Senior Citizens, our general sentiment is that this time around the country matters more than personal loyalties to a political party,” Keighley said.
“So people may have to hold their nose and then they can get over it and we can move on from there.”
Once the floor was opened for community members to have their say, some wanted to know who they should vote for locally and others noted that local Conservative incumbent, John Weston, has always done well in the West Vancouver-Sunshine Coast-Sea to Sky Country riding due to his strong West Vancouver support.
Keighley said it was “too early to read the tea leaves” about who to vote for but noted he would be watching the opinion polls closely as the election nears.
As for the need to influence a different vote in the West Vancouver area, Keighley said COSCO and the Alliance 4 Democracy planned to do some advertising to reach West Vancouver voters.
Some people in attendance suggested that getting younger voters out to cast a ballot was the way to create change in the outcome of the next federal election.
“We need to somehow wake them up,” one man said.
Before the evening ended some attendees started making pitches for the parties of their choice while some debated the merits of the first-past-the-post voting system and others talked proportional representation and coalition governments.
No plans about how to move forward were solidified by the end of the meeting but organizers promised another meeting on June 10 at 7 p.m. at the Sunshine Coast Arts Centre to talk more about next steps.
“I don’t think we’ve got the answers yet,” said Lynn Chapman of Alliance 4 Democracy.
“We’re on the beginning of this path, we’re not at the end of the path. We don’t know what it’s going to be like at election time, but if we stay on the path together and if we draw more people in, then we can make a difference.”
