Psst! Have you ever thought of engaging
This is not supposed to be a sermon. But
in vote-swapping?
think of the places in the world where people
Or, what if they held an election and
are dying, literally dying, for the right to
nobody showed up?
vote.
Yes, we are heading into the home stretch
In a few days from now, we will be able
of another election campaign and we are
to kick back and slip back into our normal
resorting to every hook imaginable to
lethargy about politics.
attempt to spark or maintain interest in the
We all have our reasons to exercise our
May 2 federal election. So we are tossing out
rights and cast ballots. One of the best is that
nuggets, tidbits, insight and thoughtful (just
if you do not vote, you forfeit your right to
The year nobody voted
kidding) analysis in an effort to ensure all
complain about the government. So are you
eligible electors exercise their democratic
willing to shut up?
right.
Defeated in 1878, he served a total of
to meet the needs of the new century. What’s
Firstly, vote swapping. While it may
4,015 days, or 10 years, 11 months, 28 days.
wrong? The internet is the most important
sound a tad shady or tempting, vote
The pay in 1867 for an MP was $600. But
development in the free exchange of ideas
Five candidates
swapping is actually a perfectly legal tactic.
that was when you actually got something
since the invention of the printing press, yet
It is a form of strategic voting, and is
for $600.
copyright laws remain in the 18th century,
newsroom@eap.on.ca
particularly useful in very close races.
Modern facts: MPs today are paid a basic
preventing the internet from living up to its
Five candidates are vying for votes in the
This is how it works: Say you do not want
$157,000. The average age of a Member of
full potential as a medium for the exchange
federal riding of Glengarry-Prescott-Russell
Party A to win. But you are a Party C member
Parliament is 53.6.
of art and information. What can we do
in the May 2 election.
voting in a riding where Party B has a better
There are 308 MPs, each representing
about it? We want to adjust copyright to
Incumbent Conservative MP Pierre
chance of defeating A than Party C does. So
about 112,000 people.
meet the needs of artists first, consumers
Lemieux is being challenged by Libertarian
you agree to vote for Party B and you swap
It does not take any special talent to cast
second, and big business third. We’ll shorten
candidate Jean-Serge Brisson, Liberal Julie
partner agrees to vote for Party C in a riding
a ballot. If you are at least 18 and a Canadian
copyright terms and reduce their scope to
Bourgeois, Green Party candidate Sylvie
where C has a better chance of defeating A.
citizen, you can vote. Prisoners can vote, so
prohibit commercial copying only. Doing so
Lemieux and New Democratic Party
And what about nobody showing up for
can pirates.
will return to the original purpose of
candidate Denis Séguin.
an election?
The national political line-up is, as the
copyright: to protect the ability of an artist to
In the 2008 election, there were four
It happened right here, in Glengarry-
beer ads might say, as diverse and colourful
make a living rather than to grant exclusive
contenders.
Prescott-Russell, five years after
as our vast, wild and beautiful land. By now,
“ownership” of an idea for life. Ideas are too
Pierre Lemieux got 25,659 votes, or 47.30
Confederation.
we ought to be very familiar with the “main”
valuable to treat as commodities, and are at
per cent of all ballots cast.
In what was then the riding of Prescott,
political parties, who are all represented in
their best when shared.”
Liberal Dan Boudria got 19,997, or 36.9
Albert Peter Hagar became the region’s first
GPR. However, there are some less
With all the other “issues” being
per cent, while New Democrat Jean-
MP when he was elected November 6, 1867.
prominent organizations espousing views
“debated,” the exchange of art and
Sébastien Caron received 5,678 votes, or
A Liberal, he won by a margin of 1,205 to
that merit our consideration, even though
information never really made it to the top of
10.5 per cent of all ballots cast. Sylvie
130 over the only other candidate, whose
local voters cannot vote for them.
the agenda.
Lemieux garnered 2,908, or 5.4 per cent.
first name is not listed on the Elections
The Absolutely Absurd Party is no longer
But everyone has different priorities.
Pierre Lemieux spent $80,105 on the last
Canada website. We do know that the other
eligible to be registered as a political party.
Consider also the Animal Alliance
campaign, while the Liberals spent $71,845.
hopeful’s family name was Higginson.
And the Work Less Party — whose motto
Environment Voters Party of Canada, a busy
Caron listed $2,043 while Sylvie Lemieux
Hagar must have been doing something
was “Workers of the world, relax!” – has
organization. Its issues include coyote killing
spent $5,306. The limit was $85,679.
right.
been de-registered, voluntarily.
contests, the preservation of seals and birds
In the last federal election, in 2008, about
He was re-elected by acclamation in 1872.
Still providing comic relief is the
and the welfare of farm animals.
67 per cent of all eligible voters in GPR went
He faced no opposition at all. See? Apathy is
Rhinoceros Party, led by Yo Gourd, who
Over the last month, the candidates have
to the polls. Here is a list of the riding’s MPs
not a modern problem.
vows not to keep any promises if a Rhino
been trying to tell us what we think is
since 1953: 1953-1957
Raymond
Born in North Plantagenet, Upper
ever gets elected.
important.
Bruneau(Liberal); 1957-1962 Osie Villeneuve
Canada, in 1827, Hagar was a real multi-
The Pirates are more serious. Here is a
We have been subjected to every kind of
(Progressive Conservative); 1962-1972
tasker. He was a captain in the militia, and
blurb: “Founded in 2009 and officially
propaganda imaginable. Now we have a
Viateur Éthier (Liberal); 1972-1984 Denis
a farmer, merchant and miller. He died in
registered in 2010, the Pirate Party of Canada
chance to express ourselves, by taking a few
Éthier (Liberal); 1984-2006 Don Boudria
1924 at the age of 97.
strives to reform Canadian information laws
minutes to mark an X on a piece of paper.
(Liberal).
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