Proportional Representation and the Pipeline

Even though I am a Conservative voter normally, I again voted Liberal. I do not want the Carbon Tax eliminated. It is at least a good sized band-aid and starts us on that path to do our best for the environment for the future of our country.

I actually found it hard to believe that Alberta and Saskatchewan would come down so hard on the Trudeau government. After all they bought a pipeline (and I am glad that they did)! We have no idea what condition that pipeline would now be in if it had been left in the hands of the past owner. Would they have continued to just drain the money away and out of our country without putting good improvements into the existing pipeline? It is something to contemplate. Granted there hasn't been a movement towards building the twin to that pipeline but that isn't the fault of the Trudeau government; it is the courts that decide the fate of such things. I am still hoping that the Consortium of Aboriginal Peoples will buy that pipeline and built the twin and put the profits into renewable energy as they mentioned. They think in terms of 50 years not one government mandate and moving off of fossil fuels is definitely supported by the Aboriginal Peoples (and myself). They could do it seamlessly whereas a government mandate would likely complicate it given that they have at most a four year mandate.

Although the idea of Proportional Representation has been tossed about at various times in Canada, I think that the results of last night's vote must point to a real difficulty with that type of democratic process in a country such as ours which has large regional interests. To give one section of the country with very centralized ambitions more seats than they would qualify for in a first past the post election is not fair to the rest of the country. Where the vote does shift back and forth between political parties, like in most parts of the country, one can see that Proportional Representation would be an interesting way to form a government but would likely result in far more minority governments. Unless our parliament can learn to manage minority governments without squabbling constantly about trivial issues, our best bet continues to be First Past the Post.