Renfrew Nipissing Pembroke NDP
Media Release for February 2.
Last Monday, almost two-thirds of Canadians voted against the Conservative Party, NDP candidate Sue McSheffrey reminded voters in the wake of the election. According to McSheffrey, this clearly shows that while the public is clearly fed up with corruption, it doesn’t want right-wing social policies either.
“Slightly over one in three voters backed the Conservatives. On the other hand, the overwhelming majority of Canadians voted for either the Liberals, the NDP, the Green Party or the BQ – all of which oppose extreme conservative social and economic policies. Moreover, Stephen Harper took great care not to campaign on a conservative socio-economic platform. All he talked about was cleaning up government and cutting people’s taxes somewhat. The NDP will definitely support any measures they introduce to reduce corruption and increase accountability in government, and to reduce the tax burden on lower-income Canadians. But the Conservatives must be reminded that they have no authority to attack any of our established social programs,” McSheffrey said.
According to McSheffrey, the election also demonstrated how much the country needs a new electoral system – one of proportional representation, where every voter is equal. “The current system effectively disenfranchises millions of Canadians. If proportional representation were in effect, where party strength reflected their popularity with voters as a whole, then the Bloc Quebecois would have far fewer seats, as would the Conservatives. The more than two million people who voted for the NDP would have nearly 60 Members of Parliament to ensure that their views are properly heard, rather than just 29. It is high time that every Canadian’s vote carried the same weight. The NDP will therefore continue to pursue electoral reform in this coming session of Parliament,” McSheffrey said. “It’s a matter of strengthening democracy.”