Election 2008 Ola! - Week Three

Welcome

Welcome to this special election edition of Ola! While Ola! is usually sent out once per month, during this election campaign, we at CPJ will be sending out weekly editions. These special Ola!s will go in-depth on pressing election topics, giving you comprehensive background information, provoking questions to ask your candidates, and much more.

Be sure to visit our website www.cpj.ca for updates on other public justice issues throughout the campaign! You can also download our election bulletin [PDF 116kB].

Being a Conscientious Values Voter

Elections have always been about values, but a new practice is appearing in Canadian politics: framing. Framing is a way of conveying values and associating them with certain policies or parties. Political parties have responded by becoming much more deliberate in their choice of language and metaphors. But framing isn’t limited to policies; political parties can also focus intensively on image.

Canadians who are truly concerned about voting according to their values must therefore not take election campaigns at “face value”. Many important issues need to be addressed, but if we allow ourselves to be manipulated by the framing and images presented by political parties, we may end up voting against our own values.

Advertisements, policy platforms and announcements, and even word choices all require discernment. Like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz, we must pay attention to the man behind the curtain, and not fixate on the image in front of us. Read more…

Taxes and the Common Good

Taxation has loomed large in discussions about the future of Canada’s economy. But so much of the debate is centred on numbers and how much money Canadians pay – forgetting that taxes are equally about government programs and services, poverty and inequality.

Taxes are an important tool, helping the government to carry out its public justice tasks. Taxes are a major contribution to the common good, an investment in our shared future. We need to go beyond looking at taxes as an isolated set of numbers to recognize the contribution that these revenues make to our entire society. Ask your candidate about what kind of Canada they want to live in, and how collective programs and services can contribute to that. Read more, to explore the values conveyed in the taxation debate.

Housing in Canada: A National Crisis

Homelessness and the availability of affordable housing increasingly impact millions of people across Canada. However, government programs continue to rely on short-term strategies to address what has grown to be a national crisis. Public justice demands that every person has the right to equal access to the resources necessary for their well-being. Our governments must create a comprehensive housing strategy that ensures all Canadians have access to affordable housing so they can live with dignity. In this election piece, CPJ considers how implicit values can undermine the right to housing.

Election 2008: Speaking Up for Change

As Canadians head into our third election in four years, how easy it would be to become cynical about the whole political process. Negative advertising reinforces this tendency. Will voting really change things? Yet cynicism is a tool the status quo uses to its advantage. The only way change will happen is if we become and stay engaged. Make sure you speak up about ideas you don’t support and vote for the candidate you believe supports public justice. Read more…

The world needs our voices

In this thoughtful reflection, Jennifer deGroot comments on the inspiration of two strong women who stood up for change. She notes that while most of us may not have opportunities for such forceful, vocal action, the world still needs our voices. In our everyday lives, she argues, we can live out a commitment to justice and to change. Read more…

Citizenship as Ministry

Thinking about our role as citizens in terms of ministry makes a big difference in how we approach the challenge of shaping the way our society works. Whether we have legal citizenship or not, we exercise citizenship through the variety of ways in which we engage in the public square. Check out this commentary by CPJ board member Kathy Vandergrift.

Public justice questions

Here are some public justice questions to keep in mind as you practice discernment and strive to be a conscientious values voter:

• Does this initiative promote respect for the rights, responsibilities, and dignity of all people, as image-bearers of God?
• Does it promote the common good of all, or the particular interests of the powerful?
• Is it sustainable in terms of caring for creation with an eye to future generations? Does it contribute to new opportunities for those who have few?
• Does it create space for people to be active participants in society, to have the role that God wants for all of us?

This week CPJ also offered questions to the media consortium preparing the leaders’ debate, on topics ranging from poverty reduction and the growing income gap to action on global warming and care for the environment. Check out CPJ’s questions, and consider asking your local candidates the same questions.

Links for more information

• The CBC’s Issues Analysis considers how political framing has worked in this campaign using the example of Stéphane Dion’s image.
• The Progressive Economics Forum has a number of posts that consider the reality versus the rhetoric in party’s campaign platforms on economics.
• Our election website offers more articles that consider important election issues and offer questions for discernment.

Party websites

Looking for party websites? Want to explore party platforms on the environment and the economy? Looking for more information on the policy announcements of the first week? Links to the websites of all of the parties hoping to run at least 50 candidates in this election can be found in our Canadian Elections section.

For all at CPJ, Chandra Pasma. Visit our website www.cpj.ca for an in-depth look at other issues, complete with provoking questions to ask your candidates. Let us know what you think of our mini election Ola!s by emailing us at cpj@cpj.ca – we’ll return to our regular Ola! schedule after the election wraps up.