Does a ‘name’ deserve your vote?
With four candidates running to represent the people of Fort McMurray-Athabasca in the 2011 federal election, it’s interesting that only three of them are actually trying to earn your vote.
New Democratic Party (NDP) candidate Berend Wilting is not doing any interviews, not participating in this Wednesday’s candidate forum at Athabasca University, and is not even hammering any signs into the ground to let his constituents know he’s there.
Bold or arrogant?
There are only two reasons a candidate would utilize such an indolent approach.
The first is the notion that Wilting and his party feel confident that the name in Ottawa will ultimately mean far more than his own, and is banking on NDP leader Jack Layton and his recent rise in popularity to bring people to the polling stations in his favour.
One could argue that this is a valid contention. Many of us put our X next to a name we know little about, concerned more with what party will be running our country at the end of the day.
The second possible reason for Wilting’s lack of effort is a more apathetic one, and perhaps more accurate one as well: he and his party feel they have no chance in rural Alberta.
Both potential reasons behind the NDP’s apparent lack of interest in this riding point toward either an intense confidence in the party as a whole, or complete lack thereof.
To be fair, this is certainly not the only riding or election in Canadian history where a candidate has ran on name only. But when something like this occurs, we should be asking ourselves why; why vote for a candidate who makes little to no effort to tell the people of their own constituency where they stand on the issues of not only the country, but the region they are hoping to represent?
If the NDP are unwilling to work and put Wilting’s face and the party platform out there – and let’s be honest, this decision to run on name only was made by party officials, not by Wilting himself – how can we as Albertans expect them to work for us in Ottawa?
Whether the NDP feels they have a chance in northern Alberta or not, we deserve some degree of effort. Imagine if every party and candidate approached elections in this same manner. The Progressive Conservatives would ignore most of the ridings east of the Ontario/Quebec border; the Liberals and NDP wouldn’t bother venturing outside of the cities; and the Bloc … well, we all know where to find the Bloc.
Point being, this is what democracy is all about. Make your argument, iterate your points, show us that you’re a candidate who will have the best interests of those you represent in your mind and your heart.
Then, and only then, do you deserve our vote.
