Dave Bagler

This is a cross post from http://granolabloggers.blogspot.com/:

So you're a student.  You graduate in April.  You're drowning in student debt and unemployment in your age group is at a 30 year high.  You're healthy if you don't count that you breath smog all day and everything you consume from laundry detergent to lunch is full of chemicals.  You live on ramen noodles and no-name Kraft dinner to stay within your budget while our government racks up a record deficit.

You may become frustrated.  You may ask yourself, why do we talk more about pensions than education?  Why are they saying the recession is over when people my age can't find work?  Why does our health-care debate revolve around drug benefits and end of life care and not prevention and healthy living?  And why is my government so eager to mortgage my future for the comforts of today?

The answer to these questions is that you don't vote.  Or if you do, your friends don't or at least not enough of them.  When our politicians pander to demographics they pander to the demographics who will help them win.  That's not us.

In the last election only about 37% of eligible voters under 25 bothered to show up at the polls. Compare that to your grandparents at 68%, or your parents at 60%.

They vote, so they impact election results.  Politicians pay attention to them.  For the most part we get ignored and it's our fault.  We need to either start voting or start getting used to short end of the stick.

There was a flurry of activity leading up to the NHL Olympic break.  Massive deals saw Phaneuf coming to Toronto from Calgary and Toskala heading to Anaheim in exchange for Giguere. After failing to renegotiate his contract the Atlanta Thrashers dealt franchise player Ilya Kovalchuk to New Jersey.

However the team that made out the best was perhaps the Green Party of Canada who acquired veteran enforcer Georges Laraque from the Montreal Canadiens.  While the GPC has maintained record levels of youth and enthusiasm it has been clear that they have been suffering this season from a lack of size.

With Laraque now in the lineup the GPC is setting their sites on a long playoff run but team captain Elizabeth May was quick to point out that it will take Laraque a few games to become accustom to the systems employed by the Greens.

Mark recently pointed out that polls (at least individual polls) can be pretty meaningless.  This also extends to seat projections that change based on microscopic variat

So there's a new HD poll out.  My first impression is that I like the new green look but now on to more substantial observations.

So this survey was conducted over 2 weeks with a sample size of 1,000 per week.  Nationally HD has us at 9% (not bad) with the Libs and Cons tied at 32% (hopefully keeping us from a spring election).

Regionally we are sitting at:

Whenever I bring up a poll result that is particularly positive those who champion the idea that the GPC is in an awful state bring up the fact that it's just one poll and we shouldn't read too much in to it.  You know what?  They're right, one poll doesn't really mean much.  Of course they are guilty of it too.  They post polls with more negative results with the same glee I post polls with mo

Yesterday's release of Vision Green reminded me of something. It gets lost in the frivolous law suits, staff changes, scorched earth campaigns against the leader, and federal council members with the press on speed dial.  It's that we quite simply have the best vision for Canada.  Our policies on nearly every issue facing Canadians are second to none.

The GPC launched the new and improved Vision Green today at few press conferences across the country.

One thing that really stood out to me was focus on the future. Policies addressing youth unemployment (currently at record highs) and the affordability of post-secondary education are desperately needed and the Green Party delivered. There can be no doubt that the best party for youth is the Green Party. With a policy like this it will be difficult for NDP front group CFS to dismiss us.

A new EKOS poll was released this morning that has the GPC at 13.4% nationally.  I think it's awesome and probably related to Elizabeth speaking out so strongly and early against prorogation and Canadians' general dissatisfaction with the old line parties.  What I find more promising than the national numbers are the provincial/regional breakdowns and the momentum.

A great new video!

The Ontario Young Liberals have a postcard that they have been distributing on campuses across the province which strongly states that we need to Stand Up For Kyoto.  Their point I guess is that Canada needs to take strong action to reduce emissions and make good on our international commitments.  Bravo, I could not agree more.