Clearing Some Election Haze

A recent evening newscast so resembled an episode of the Simpsons that I would have liked to laugh out loud but for the fact that the matter was thoroughly depressing.

The news item presented some views on the upcoming municipal election; but it told us a very narrow version of the facts: A few people are for Tremblay. Others are against. The election is deemed a tight race between two parties. Any further questions? Curious about an up and coming third party making waves with solid results in recent bi-elections? Too bad.

Instead, the CBC deemed it useful to shorten their election story in order to follow with a story on some dogs on surfboards! …I kid you not. This, in a newscast that was recently extended to one and a half hours.

Watching the news you would have no idea Projet Montreal existed.

Montréal’s third municipal party is worth having a look at. Their platform is ecologically and economically progressive; their leadership is solid; and their presence (in election results, on the web, and in their communiqués) is prominent. Anyone paying attention (and this would include journalists, I expect) should see there is a story developing here. Theirs is precisely the kind of story that the two “main” parties would love to suppress.

So is it a coincidence that the media furthers this preference? I’d like to believe not….

It is the purpose of Car Free Mile-End to promote the creation of a car-free zone on St. Viateur Ouest. So far no municipal party has actually come forward with this plan on their agenda, but it is worth noting where each of the parties stands on car-use, and who might be most sympathetic to our cause. To that end I encourage you to look into all three parties and their platforms

http://www.projetmontreal.org/
http://www.unionmontreal.com/
http://www.visionmtl.com/


Inevitably all three parties are going to need to tune in to the like of us. We represent the groundswell. Groups like CFME are bound to crop up all over the city over the next few years, because people are learning that’s how things get done. Furthermore, once governments realise they’ve got to get off their backside and act on the most urgent matters of our day, they’ll need to turn to working groups like ours who are in the process of laying the groundwork for real change.

On a final note, above all, I encourage you to vote. Participatory democracy has its best chances at the municipal level because it is never so far from home. It ain’t perfect, but we can make it better. Ironically it is at this level of politics/ government that we see the lowest voter turnout. Mile-End hipsters and cynical gen-exers are the only ones who can really change that. So it is to that portion of the audience that I say: vote!