Web activists woo opposition
The federal Liberal’s new online leadership election process is a “huge opportunity,” for citizens who want the three opposition parties to cooperate to unseat the Conservative government in the next election, an organizer of an online activist organization says.
Leadnow.ca is urging Canadians who want to defeat the Conservatives in the 2015 election to register as supporters of the Liberals before the midnight, March 2 deadline, thereby obtaining a free and equal voting privilege, along with duespaying party members, when they choose their next leader.
Leadnow. ca endorses candidate Joyce Murray who advocates a one-time cooperation with NDP and Greens, said organizer Julia Pope.
“We’re asking them to cooperate in advance of the next election to ensure the Harper Conservatives are voted out and we immediately bring in a reformed voter system so our democracy is no longer subject to the distortions of the first past the post system,” Pope said.
That system resulted in a majority government for Stephen Harper’s Conservatives after the 2011 election despite the fact that 61 per cent of the popular vote was cast for non-Conservative candidates, she said.
“It awarded the Conservatives a false majority in our opinion,” she said.
Green Party leader Elizabeth May had come out strongly in favour of cooperation and “we know there is a sizable community of pro-cooperation inside the NDP,” Pope said.
The online voting system is new to Canadian politics, making it difficult for observers to gauge how much impact online campaigns might have on the Liberal leadership outcome, said Greg MacEachern, a former senior adviser to Liberal cabinet members in the Paul Martin government and now president of government relations for Environics.
“I’m interested in what the supporter category will mean. This is brand new territory for politics in Canada.
“The point of it was supposed to be to bring people who were not used to being in politics or who were turned off, to become a little more involved.
“If an organization is going to take advantage of that, that’s part of the process. The Liberal Party had to be prepared for that.” MacEachern said.
Alex Sevigny, a communications professor at McMaster University, said it will be interesting to see if online sympathizers will take the next step to actually voting.
The singular focus of the Leadnow campaign could also weaken its impact when voters consider other aspects of candidates’ platforms, he said.
“An activist group promoting a particular reason for voting becomes one thing in the mix,” he said.
“I don’t know how heavily it will weigh in people’s minds when they’re choosing.”
About 230,000 Canadians, including supporters of all four federal parties and non-partisans, have joined the online group. About 5,000 are in Saskatchewan, Pope said.