Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - June 18, 2004, Winnipeg, Manitoba A15 Winnipeg free press focus Friday june 18, 2004. Voting behaviour voting to punish carries risks unintended consequences a Strong possibility this phenomenon goes therefore beyond simple anger or crankiness. M any years ago when i was an undergraduate student of Politi Cal science two of my professors invited me to work with them on an elec Tion study to be conducted after a Federal election. I jumped at the Opportunity. Once the election was Over questionnaires were mailed to a Large Sample of voters in one Winnipeg constituency. The usual object in such studies was to seek correlations Between voters choices and ethnicity religion education age and other variables ? and of course to try to understand Why voters cast the votes they did. The Overall results Are Long gone from my memory save and except for one voters response this particular voter explained that he had voted for party a because his brother in Law a sup Porter of party a had refused to repay a loan of $500. The respondents vote was thus an act of punishment for a dead beat in Law. Example several years later while studying in England i encountered another interest ing example of voting behaviour. Follow ing a general election that had brought Harold Wilson and the labour party into Power the new prime minister opened up a Safe labour seat to allow his new for eign Secretary Patrick Gordon Walker the Opportunity to get Back into the House of commons. Despite labours general election Victory Gordon Walker had unaccountably lost his own seat in parliament. In the ensuing by election race and immigration emerged As important issues. Gordon Walker who was a Liberal on these mat ters now found himself being repeatedly heckled at Public meetings by supporters of the British nazi party and their Leader Colin Jordan. When Gordon Walker lost the Bielec Tion one of Britain a sunday papers did a comprehensive Story investigating this unexpected result. Among those they interviewed was one normally staunch labour supporter who had voted against Gordon Walker. This As he explained was because i be got no time for fascists and every time i saw Gordon Walker on television there were fascists this respondent wanted to punish letters to the editor the free press welcomes letters from readers. They must include the authors name address and Telephone number. Letters May be edited. Letters to the editor 1355 Mountain Avenue Winnipeg r2x 3b6. Fax 697-7412. Email no wonder there a voter apathy the Only salient Points to come out of the leaders debate was their shame Ful behaviour in interrupting one another and speaking Over one another a views without even listening to what the other was saying. Do they really think canadians believe they Are listening to the coun try a concerns no wonder there is such voter apathy. Who wants that sort of disrespectful Bunch of juvenile grand standers to really take care of the country a Busi Ness they can to even control them selves so How can they be trusted with the nations affairs this is the legacy they will leave for our children and grandchildren and unless they Start to clean up their act they should be banned from the Media. We Don t want the world to know the kind of incompetence we have at the Helm. Now if somebody were to suggest that we should make Sheila Fraser prime minister and put everyone else on commission for fulfilling their promises Canada might have some Hope. Victor Epp Winnipeg recall legislation would protect Public in View of developments in Federal provincial and City governments in recent years the Public should be protected by recall legislation. We the electors should have some recourse rather than have to suffer with individuals who under perform. Rules and regulations should be established that Are fair reasonable and equitable. As in business if you do not meet the performance and behaviour that has been established ? you re out. The electorate should not have to wait a full term to act upon the Issue on issues. Alex e. Schwartz Winnipeg arts and culture important Winnipeg a new mayor is going to need Many qualities including dedication diplomacy and judgment. But an Ideal mayor is also one who knows the value of arts and culture in the lives of every citizen. An Ideal mayor is one who knows that the arts Are not in Competition with Road repair or Arenas or recycling but rather that they All work together to create a healthy Happy and productive Community. Just As a City cannot thrive without Well maintained streets garbage pick up and Snow removal its citizens can not thrive without musicians dancers actors writers and visual artists. Moreover arts and culture can make a City safer having the Opportunity to engage in creative expression or to enjoy the creativity of someone else can change values and transform lives. Electing a mayor who values arts and culture also makes sense from an economic Point of View Over 8,000 peo ple in Winnipeg have occupations directly related to arts and culture and one study has shown that arts groups generate two dollars for every Gordon Walker for the company ? the voter mistakenly believed ? Gordon Walker kept. These examples of rather bizarre reasoning and voting behaviour came to mind when Reading this week the results of a recent poll in Ontario conducted by ses research. Here respondents were asked whether the budget brought Down by Ontario a provincial Liberal government would have an Impact on the likelihood of them voting for the Federal liberals 49 per cent said yes it would Only 40 per cent said no. A More explicit indicator of this attitude was to be found in the ses questions on voter preferences at the end of May support for the Federal liberals stood at 34 per cent Well below the Levels of support it had enjoyed Only weeks before. At the same time the Federal conservatives saw their support Rise to 41 per cent from less than 30 per cent. The message if you can to punish the provincial liberals for an unquestionably dumb decision punish the Federal Liber als who unquestionably did not make the dumb decision. The irony of course is that were the conservatives in Power the reintroduction of Hospital premiums would have been their More natural response to cutting the deficit ? which compounding the irony was actually much larger than those same conservatives had Ever admitted to before their defeat. This Peculiar phenomenon of votes being cast As a form of punishment with the Strong possibility of unintended con sequences is being replicated elsewhere in the country. In a recent conversation Roy Macgre Gor of the Globe and mail told me that he had observed a similar phenomenon ear Lier that week in British Columbia. There he noted Many . Voters who Are angry at Gordon Campbells Provin Cial Liberal government Are going to vote against the Federal liberals and Many of them will vote conservative. Irony the irony Here of course is that the Campbell government is conservative in All but name indeed it is one of the most conservative governments in the country. Some voters wanting to punish one set of provincial conservatives Are prepared to vote for another set of Federal conserva Tives with apparently Little conscious Ness or concern for the logic or the consequences of doing so. Go figure. A different but analogous thing is Hap pening in Quebec. Anger Over the sponsorship scandal is particularly intense there. Many sub Cois not unreasonably Are angered by the notion that their sup Dollar of government support. Around the world our City is lauded for its artistic and cultural capital a reputation that attracts not Only tourists but new businesses arts and culture win Over vacationers in Winnipeg ran a headline in the Chicago daily Herald last May. On june 22, i Hope that the citizens of Winnipeg will elect a mayor who has a Complete vision of our City one that recognizes and actualize the social Benefit of the arts and the cultural Cap ital of our Community. Mark Morton on behalf of the smart vote committee Winnipeg flood Way action affected wildlife the recent emergency operation of the flood Way in anticipation of Poten tial problems with the City a storm sewers has real consequences for the doonesbury wildlife in the upstream area that has been artificially flooded. The timing could not have been worse for ground nesting Birds Deer foxes and rabbits with Young on the ground. After nearly 20 years of living on a five acre property that is totally enclosed by four foot farm Fence Gates we have seen unprecedented move ments of animals since the Onset of the flood. Normally nocturnal raccoons and skunks Are foraging under our Bird feeder in Broad Daylight. Most disturbingly pregnant Deer forced out of the flooded River Bottom lands Are giving birth to their fawns in unsuitable places. Twin Newborn fawns bleating for their Mother bedded Down at the Roadside last week. It took nearly 20 hours for one Fawn to move out just before Road grading operations started. Our dogs who Are out on our property with collars and Bells to Alert wildlife put upon a new born Fawn which had been born in our Yard. Fortunately the dogs were retrieved before the Fawn was injured but it was severely stressed from being chased. Port for federalism was being bought with their own taxes. The result of this anger has been a rapid Rise of support for the bloc sub Cois. That support is so High indeed that it must logically encompass the support of Many sub Cois who would normally identify themselves As federalists. Yet their votes on present projections will deprive the liberals of Many seats in Quebec. The irony Here lies in the fact that federalist votes thus cast in Quebec Benefit the bloc directly and the conservatives indirectly the two Par ties from which Quebec federalists should have the most to fear. This phenomenon goes therefore beyond simple anger or crankiness. It involves a major disconnect Between the sources the objectives and the consequences of individual voting decisions. An approach to politics that involves throw ing out one set of rascals As a Means of punishing another set May Well provide a moment of emotional satisfaction or even exhilaration. But As the Globe and mail Points out in a Lead editorial this week such a tendency its visceral Appeal carries certain risks. Chief among them is that voters May get More than they bargained for or less.?. if the Riverbank and adjacent Fields had not been flooded the Doe would not have been displaced to the dry ground inside of our fenced Yard to give birth. Having witnessed these events i suppose these Are the Lucky animals who Haven to been drowned outright. The rules of operation for the flood Way were breached by this operation crops at risk if Gates Are raised Page a1, june 10. Compensation for this inundation does not mitigate the effects on wildlife or the added stress to those who care about what the wildlife endure. The flood Way was designed to be operated to prevent damage during Spring floods it was not designed to be operated As an integral part of the City of Winnipeg s waste management sys tem. The original intent of the flood Way is being subverted. In doing so it creates innocent victims among the wildlife and i be looked one in the Eye. Barbara Stewart Howden by Garry Trudeau ;