Newmarket-Aurora, the NDP sham continues v2011

I’ve often said that strategic voting is a mistake; I’ve also stated that no vote is ever wasted. I was wrong.

I still believe that people should vote their conscience even if there is no chance of winning but what I cannot condone is voting for a candidate that simply does not try.

In 2008 I blogged about the NDP and their local sham campaign and while I did hear a little second hand outrage about the post after the fact it does not seem to have to inspired them to do better.
The fact that this post is the top google result for the search "NDP Newmarket-Aurora" shows how quiet and ineffective the local party is.

This year's election is not much different, Kassandra Bidarian the NDP Candidate is not campaigning, there are no signs, no web site, no twitter account and only the slightest mention on her Facebook page that she’s even running. Last election the NDP had a late nomination but did eventually get some activity going, this time they’ve had a candidate for some time but she’s just not trying.

Errata, when I first checked web site was basically a place holder, its now a functioning site
I totaly missed the facebook page because Vote KB for NDP was not personalize enough to be caught in the search I did, I'd respectfully suggest she use her full name for visability.

I don’t even blame Kassandra, It’s the party and its disrespect for local voters that so angers me. IF you cannot find a truly local candidate (she currently lives in Toronto), someone who is willing to put some effort into the campaign and someone who can invigorate your local base you should not be running a Candidate.

A vote for someone who doesn’t try, someone whose own party lacks the confidece in them to run a real campaign is truly a wasted vote

I wasn’t planning to make this an issue again but people are asking me “where the hell are the NDP?” Apparently contempt for voters is also a local issue.

added after original posting

James Morton shows us that you can respect your opponent if they really try

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Lessons from Japan

We haven't seen the total death numbers yet, we don't know the long term economic impacts and we don't know the true story about Japan's nuclear reactors but we can already make a few observations about these disasters and how they relates to us.

1. Nuclear power will never be 100% safe. Sure you can engineer things to the nth degree but humans can't make any building that nature can't take apart be it by erosion, earthquakes, volcanoes or tsunami. We are also incapable of building reactors which can withstand human malice, stupidity and error, it simply cannot be done. Ontario for example has a pile of reactors many of which have had small leaks over the years as the tritium levels in lake Ontario prove. None of our reactors are built to withstand a direct airplane strike, none have adequate on the ground security and none could withstand a real attack by motivated terrorists.

We have never devised a way to store nuclear waste that will keep it safe for the 1000s of years required and no one ever includes these long term commitments in the final price tag when building these monstrosities

Today in Ontario both Liberals and the Conservatives support the construction of new nuclear reactors. Considering what's happening in Japan its very likely that nuclear will be taken off the table at least until the election is over but be assured both of these parties will scurry back to this unsafe and costly idea once the story has died down. Only the Green Party of Ontario has been consistent and clear in their opposition to more reactors, if what's happening in Japan is scary consider it happening at Pickering or Darlington.

2. Within close proximity to an earthquake there is very little you can do to prepare for, or escape from a Tsunami. Even with advanced warning you can only save lives not stop the massive property damage.
Has enough been done in BC to strengthen building codes and retrofit old buildings? How good are our emergency warning systems? Are we ready for a total collapse of the insurance industry when it gets brought down by the increasing number of natural disasters?

Additionally, recent articles claim that global warming will cause more earthquakes as the weight of shifting ice and fresh melted water redistribute pressure on the planets crust. Old faults frozen by the massive weight of ice will begin to move again and we can expect higher levels of geological movement in the north Atlantic especially as the crust around Iceland and Greenland begin to rebound after the ice melts. We also need to realize as seas rise more of the worlds coast become susceptible to tsunami damage all thanks to man made climate change, we need to move on this issue now.

3. A friend tweeted last night that his family in Japan was safe but that the supply network had collapsed and there was no food in the grocery stores. This is the result of the just in time delivery supply chain prevalent in all western nations. We need to realize that our supply network is just as fragile as Japan's and any breakdown that disrupts roads, fuel supplies, electrical power etc means the average grocery store has no more than 3 days supplies, if it can even be opened without power. In the third world, even many of the poorest people don't need to shop daily, they get a bag of rice, one of beans, a can of cooking oil and make it last as long as they can. In our affluent west we believe the stores never close. We believe we can go buy what ever we want whenever we want. We believe our overly complex and largely invisible supply lines can never be cut. We are wrong!

Complex systems are only as robust as their weakest link, no fuel, no hydro, or shredded roads and our ability to feed ourselves disappears.



The Japanese disasters shows us we need to invest in emergency preparedness but not necessarily in just big helicopters, warning systems and DART units but making our communities more robust and more resilient. We need safe, renewable and widely distributed power production and distribution systems, we need better local food systems including more local food storage, more local food production and a local distribution systems. We need to get off our asses and be ready to take care of ourselves in our own communities because from Haiti, to Japan, to New Orleans its obvious that governments can't or won't do the job alone.

How many of you have built your government recommended 72 hour emergency kit? How many of you have the food, water and medicine you need in the house at all times?

I don't claim that our situation is the same as Japan's but there are always risks of some kind and our society is not ready for them. Analyzing the risks and discussing how to mitigate them should be our focus rather than wallowing in CNN's 24 hour disaster porn marathon.Recommend this Post

Holy Shit

There are any number of reasons to say Holy Shit! these days, be it social upheaval in the middle east; dumb ass ethically bankrupt Conservative ads or the coming wave of food inflation, but in this case Holy Shit: Managing Manure To Save Mankind is a new book all my gardener, farmer and wannabe farmer friends should check out.




And before someone else brings it up. Yes, I agree, this was a shitty post.Recommend this Post

NDP Endorses Green Candidate

Can someone tell me why the press is ignoring the fact that Kevin Bordian, the NDP Candidate in Vaughan endorsed the Green Candidate last night

Maybe if Progressives of all flavours supported the best Candidate in each riding we could crush Harper and force the issue on PR

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Voting Green in Newmarket-Aurora

What a great little program to build animated videos

Oh and here's the FB links mentioned in video, and here

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An evening with Adriane Carr and Georges Laraque

The Newmarket-Aurora Federal Green Party Association is hosting an evening with Green Party Deputy leaders Adriane Carr and George Laraque, Nov 16 at the Wellington Gallery in Aurora, 7:00pm -10:00


Come out and enjoy a great event surrounded by great local art, music, and fellow greens while hearing from Adriane Carr and candidate Vanessa Long. Fresh from the carnage known as the Battle of the Blades I'm sure we can coax a story or two out Georges as well.

There will also be a short pledge auction in preparation of the next federal election and a raffle for some wonderful local art.

I even hear they will have appetizers and a bar..... That's all I need to hear ;)

You can reserve an e-ticket here and check out the google map to the gallery.

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Democracy fail: Where are the local opposition Candidates?

We’ve been under the threat of a federal election for well over a year yet I see that many ridings are unprepared having few of their candidate’s selected, mine is no exception.


I’d prefer that candidates were chosen very early on so we have more time to learn more about them, talk to them, judge them and see how seriously they intend to run their campaigns. I want to see dedicated candidates that actually work at making local connections, communicating their ideas and listening to ours all year, not candidates that get pulled out of thin air right after the writ is dropped, do a 5 week campaign blitz and then disappear back into obscurity should they lose.


In the current municipal elections we’ve seen some great examples of hungry engaged candidates who’ve been active in the community long before the election started. Some contenders have been working towards their goal for the entire interval between elections showing a great deal of dedication and determination. These are the kind of people I want to see in ALL parties vying for the opportunity of representing us federally. I don’t want last minute municipal candidates who come out of nowhere and file their papers on the last day nor do I want federal candidates who refuse to state their intention and be scrutinized well before an election is called.

So my question is where are these tireless federal candidates in Newmarket-Aurora?

Naturally the Conservative incumbent Lois Brown is visible as she should be, it’s her fulltime paid job. She may be a 3rd string, lack luster MP but she is available.

Vanessa Long of the Green Party has been nominated for 9 months and has been increasingly active engaging the public through a variety of local community and business organizations. Here she is speaking at the prorogation rally in Newmarket just days after her nomination.

From what I can see the NDP continues their history of being the stealth party with little visible EDA activity and certainly no proactive nominations. To be fair their president and previous candidate did take part in last winter’s prorogation protests but they generally don’t make the effort to be seen, have never tried to run a credible campaign and have been trending down over the last 3 elections.

The biggest surprise however is the total lack of activity by the Liberal party who nominated and then lost candidate Margaret Black all within a 4 month period in late 2009 Not only did Black bail on the nomination but she wasn’t even a resident of the Newmarket- Aurora riding, her full time gig is Mayor of King City. This alone might not seem like much until you see this recent letter sent out by the Young Liberals of Newmarket-Aurora to their followers on facebook. My snide commentary is in the brackets

Hi Everyone,

It's unfortunately been a quieter summer than we anticipated. However, the house about to resume for the fall session so things are about to get exciting once more. (Iggy’s bus tour was a bore and we did no organizing; I hope the this session is more interesting)
As some of you may or may not be aware, the Newmarket-Aurora riding is currently without a Liberal candidate. (because she bailed on us after 4 stinking months)

As a member of the candidate search committee, we have been looking around Aurora for people who qualified to represent the riding and a desire to make a difference in the community. (Yet morally flexible enough to run Liberal)(P.S. Why just Aurora? Newmarket not good enough for ya?)

The committee has done some good work, however, further input by party members is desired. As a result, I'm asking the members of the Young Liberal group here if they know anyone who would be interested in seeking the nomination. (We’ve spend all summer looking for good a good candidate yet we came up dry and really need you to find a new sacrificial lamb)

If anyone has any specific names of who they would think make a fitting candidate, please forward them to me.

I hope to hear from you all soon. If anyone has any questions, please don't hesitate to ask.

Nick (Nick Kelly)

I don’t know about you but I interpret this letter as an admission that after a wasted summer they found that no one of quality wants the job. Margret Black took the nomination in August 09 and then backed away when polls weakened for the Liberals at the end of the year, a Mayoral position in the hand is apparently worth a lost cause in the bush. The Liberals seem to be struggling in Newmarket-Aurora; unable to find “good” local candidates unless a win is guaranteed. Currently it looks uncertain and no one seems willing to be stuck with the Liberal label.

As I said before I want to see a quality selection of candidates representing all the flavours of the Canadian spectrum, I don’t want 5 week wonders or cardboard cut outs filling space on the ballot. I also don’t want parachutes candidates arriving because parties are too week to generate good local talent.

What I want to see are engaged candidates on the ground today listening to citizens. In Newmarket Aurora the Conservatives and the Greens are the only two parties who actually appear willing to work for the job of representing us and that’s not too encouraging.

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