(written by Terry MacNeil, on April 27, 2025)

An old friend of mine identifies as politically “liberal”, and almost always votes for the Liberal Party of Canada (LPC). But as far as labels go – I’d say he’s a “social-democrat” (aka a “progressive”). And I consider “social-democracy” (as it is commonly defined today) to be the most watered down kind of socialism – because it is “pro-capitalist”. Social-democrats HATE capitalism, but they (sadly) see it as a necessary evil – though they try to make capitalism more “humane” through government regulation. Anyway, my friend is a huge fan of the NDP (New Democratic Party – which is a social-democratic political party). HOWEVER, in virtually every election (especially federal) he’s too afraid to actually vote NDP – because he assumes he’ll be throwing his vote away, and make it more likely a right-wing candidate will get elected. There was a by-election in his district not so long ago – and he told me (paraphrased) “Well, I voted Liberal – but it turned out I didn’t need to vote for them, because the NDP candidate won in the end”. When I heard that, I nearly lost it. And THAT – is the outrage that is “strategic voting”.

There will be a federal election in Canada on April 28, 2025. But my mother and I already voted early – for the NDP (even though the polls look incredibly grim for them). Because of redistricting (which I assume is in response to population shrinkage) my mother and I are now (territorially) in a WAY larger district than in the previous election. In our district, it looks like the LPC candidate will win their seat. Have I or my mother ever voted strategically? Nope! We vote with our hearts, and say “If you vote for the lesser of two evils – you still end up with evil”. So you will never get the change you truly want to see in society. Fun fact – me and my Mom are both anti-capitalists, though we’d never vote for a “Marxist-Leninist” political party. That’s because (overall) the NDP better represents us politically than the Marxist-Leninists. But since I’m an anarchist – there will never be a political party that fully represents me. But I digress. In the last USA presidential election, the vast majority of American voters were stuck with a choice between one HORRIBLE party (the Democratic Party) and another party that is WAY WORSE (the Republican Party). It’s no wonder so many leftists simply stayed home rather than vote in that election. If I were American – I’d have voted for the Green Party (or spoiled my ballot if they weren’t running in my district).

For decades, I’ve been hearing the same old/tired arguments in support of choosing “the lesser evil” – especially with regard to Weimar Germany. Before Adolf Hitler was appointed Chancellor, the Communists (a Marxist-Leninist party) competed against the Social-Democrats for power. If the Communists and Social-Democrats had chosen “the lesser evil” of forming a coalition – PERHAPS World history would’ve been less bloody. But the Nazis soon formed government – and used “the state” to repress Germany’s Marxists and other socialists. What does that example have to do with strategic voting in Canadian elections? Nothing. But the stakes of voting in CANADIAN ELECTIONS are NOWHERE NEAR as high as in Weimar Germany.

In closing, I am reminded of an old George Carlin quote (paraphrased) “I don’t vote. If you vote, you’ve got no right to complain about the party that wins the election – no matter what they do when in office.” I disagree with Mr. Carlin. I say “If you vote for the party that wins an election – you have no right to complain about anything they do when in office (unless they’re doing shit they never campaigned on). And if you vote strategically – you’re a coward”. Ⓐ