Clickbait
Everyone is on the internet these days and there is a rush to grab people's attention. Add in social media where people spread information that seems interesting and you have rumors that spread far faster than truth.
One such example came from the 2019 Canadian election where someone started a rumor that the then current Prime Minister Justin Trudeau wanted to bring a million Nigerian people to the country. On social media that rumor spread like wildfire and it was totally untrue. Sure Canada at the time was very welcoming to immigrants as immigration is a big source of fuel for our economy. However its a small country by population and adding a million people of any ethnicity would cause huge overcrowding issues in an already tight housing market.
(image source: Dall-e)
Why spread such a rumor? Well, for two reasons. First it gets views. Second it makes an impression on a candidate running for election. Whether the impression is good or bad doesn't matter....someone is churning out a lie to influence who becomes the leader of a country. I believe people should absolutely have a choice in their government but I also believe that choice should be based on facts.
Fact Checking and Social Media censorship
In an age where anyone can say anything on Facebook, X, Hive and any number of other social media platforms rumors and misinformation can spread like wildfire. Then again so can opinions, open debate, and factual information. One is beneficial to the democratic and the other poisons it. It is also quite possible for foreign countries to make dummy accounts to influence opinion and influence the vote so that Canadians vote for a foreign agenda.
That's one reason why I like Hive
On Hive anyone can have an account but every account has value. Every upvote and downvote has a cost. Everyone has a reputation that takes time and votes to increase. In short, it would be far more difficult for a country to create convincing dummy accounts and it is typically far easier to see who is a real person. On other social media? Far more difficult.
Elections Canada
But in Canada we also have an independent body called elections Canada that vets the information that is out there. They are a reliable source for Canadians to go to for fact checking what the candidates are actually saying. They are the people responsible to make sure the votes are counted fairly. Generally to keep things fair and honest.
They also have the power to block news media from being spread on social media. The idea being that unreliable social media platforms can be kept from spreading unreliable information. I guess in a way its censorship but then again sometimes its better to quiet the noise so that we can hear what is really being said.
Individual MP's
Here is one thing I really like about the Canadian way of voting. People vote locally for a member of Parliament (MP). That MP typically has an office in the local area and is usually accessible to any person who lives in the area. If you really want to know what is said go to your local representative who more or less has a direct line to the person running for Prime Minister.
A little explanation of the Canadian system
However, even if disinformation and bad foreign actors do get "their man" in as Prime Minister there is far more accountability from a Prime Minister than there is when people directly elect a President. In that way if the leader decides to "Go Rogue" and act against what they promised in their campaign there is a very real grass roots way to get rid of them. That's actually a nice reassurance compared to some places which vote and regret.
Unfortunately not many people know how it works, even when you live in the country, so I'll go into a little explanation of how it works. My apologies if I get some details wrong but I think I've got the main points down.
First: We don't vote for our Prime Minister
No. Really. There is a vote going on which is a tight race between Pollieve and Carney. One of them is likely to be our new Prime Minister when the votes are counted. However, neither one of them is on my voting card. That totally surprised me when I went to vote for my first time a long long time ago.
Second: We vote for a local MP
So what do we get on our voter card? We get to vote for someone locally. Someone from our area who we can meet and see both before and AFTER the election. They live with us. They know the local business and local people. Typically they have strong local roots. They take OUR voice with them to Ottawa (where the countries government is).
As for who can run? It is really quite simple. Any Canadian who lives in the area who has at least 100 supporters, a treasurer and who applies to run as a candidate. Do they have to be affiliated with a party like Liberals or Conservatives? Not at all. They can run for whatever they stand for.
Third: Our local MP tell us who they stand for as Prime Minister
However, a unified voice means something. Having a strong leader at the head is important. So, when the local candidates run they will often support a single person to lead the country and they tell the voter in advance. I can vote for someone who will support Carney, or Pollieve, or Singh....or themselves for that matter.
That's important because if I think Carney said something because I heard a rumor on social media my local MP supporting him will be a fairly reliable source of YES he said it or NO that's bull.
Fourth: That leads to interesting results.
So there are 343 MP (local representatives) who get sent to Parliament (Canadian government) and each one of them gets one vote on who becomes the Prime Minister. If 172 or more support Carney they will cast their vote that way and Carney will be the new Prime Minister. If 172 or more support Pollieve, well, then he will be the new leader of our country. But how about the smaller parties? What if a number of independents get in?
Well, let me tell you a story. One year the major parties were split very evenly. At one point the numbers were almost 50:50 between the major parties. It looked as if 171 would be Conservative and 171 would be Liberal and ONE Green Party member. Now the final numbers were a little different but imagine.
If things were so deadlocked in the country that one person who stood up for the environment got to make the final decision of who major candidate was going to be the Prime Minister. That thought makes me smile.
Fifth: That means the Prime Minister has a lot less power than you might think.
Look at that situation. The Prime Minister doesn't make the laws. The MP's do. A Prime Minister can suggest an action but unless the MP's back it then it doesn't happen.
Go back to the situation where one single Green party member has the final vote. The Prime Minister can suggest a law. The other party says NO. There is an even split so the final choice on whether it happens or not comes down to one Green Party member.
But it goes further than that. Perhaps the Prime Minister wants to get tough on immigration. Perhaps the Prime Minister wants to introduce tariffs. Perhaps the Prime Minister wants to outlaw cucumbers and mandate strawberries can't be sold on Sundays. Well, he can propose whatever he wants and those in his party will typically support him. But they don't have to! If the people who voted him in are opposed to the Prime Minister then the MP can vote against his party. If enough vote against the leader its time for another election and we start over.
Indeed something very much like that happened when a leader called Joe Clark of the Progressive Conservate party got in. He got in, didn't have enough support from the MP's and another election came just 9 months after he was elected. Why? He wanted a gas tax in the budget and he got voted out for non-confidence
It's nice knowing the Prime Minister has limited power
But it is certainly not a perfect system
Of course the system has its problems too. With everyone able to run as an MP there can be too much choice. There can be too many different voices in the government and the Prime Minister can be put in a position where he doesn't have enough support on his own to get things going. He has to try and please everyone just to stay in power and that means he has to water down needed legislation to keep everyone happy.
It also means that some very odd people can run for government and have a very real chance of having a very real say. Sure I was kind of happy when the Green Party was in a position to have a very real say in government. But what if it was the "Flying Yogi's" party (who believed if you meditated hard enough you could fly. Or what if the "Ficus" party got in (who believed politicians were so corrupt they wanted to nominate a houseplant to run the country). Having someone a little nutty who can cast a swing vote? Ouch.
The main point here
At the end of the day I had one main thing to say. Well, I suppose two.
First: Wherever you are try to figure out how the system works. Then do your best to find the best candidate that works within the system you have.
Second: Vet whatever information you get from the candidates. Social media can be a good source of information and it can be a good source of outright lies. Media can twist the truth and politicians may not actually tell you the truth (shocking, right?).
But if you get a vote: Make it count....by getting the honest facts.