yah, this one's a bit of an angry rant...

I have to admit I have been teeter-tottering on who to give my vote to.  (That is of course, IF I can vote in time from uganda - thanks for the notice Harper)  Above all, I do not want Harper to have a majority. I think it could end up being one of the most damaging times in domestic Canadian history, for the equality of all Canadians, the unity of all Canadians, and in how Canada is viewed by the rest of the world.

So, I am following along with the Dion campaign.  Honest man, wish he had been my prof in uni.  But can I abandon the Greens just when they are taking off?  I remeber delivering signs for Nepean-Carleton when we ran our first Green MP.  Seems like forever ago.  Bet they have more sign requests now.  Glad I'm not doing that anymore!  

Am I really wasting my vote on them?  I have met my Green Candidate,  Lori Gadzala, on a couple of occasions and judge her to be a strong, intelligent and straightforward woman.  But, will voting for her possibly allow Piere Poilievre back into the power?  The man/boy is rude, ignorant, juvenile, shameless, self-involved and he's from Calgary (he dropped out of uni - never finishing - to join the REFORM PARTY people!!!) running in an Ottawa suburb. (i actually had to add adjectives in there to fit all the moments of idiocy in Pierre's reign, and, there are still more!).

Researching more on Green policy makes me think I shouldn't be jumping ship:

1) They propose to introduce legislation that will allow for students who gradute with a diploma or certificate to get 50% forgiveness on their loans.  You know, reading this I thought about my debt waiting for me back in canada.  Is my brain worth that many thousands of dollars now?  really?  Is my really expensive brain going to get me a job when I get home?  Imagine if I had that 50% fogiveness... I could become a consumer again when I get back, I could pay taxes, I could be an asset to the Canadian economy rather than just anotherover- educated young Canadian no longer in school but still living off of Kraft dinner so that they can pay 500$ a month back to the gov't.

2) They don't want to pull out of Afghanistan right away,  (although I am unclear as to their full plan).  You know, I wonder what all this election nonsense is doing to the Afghan people?  I wonder if Karzai sometimes finds himself wondering: "Are these damn Canadian politicians are going to get it together anytime soon?  Maybe they will stay, maybe they won't.  Well in the meantime I don't think I can rely on them, maybe I can't be so much on the straight and narrow.  In order to help my people I may have to resort to playing both sides."  Suck it up Canada!!!  We made the decision to go in, it is done, finished, we commited!  AAAaaaand we HAVE THE ABILITY to make a difference in Afghanistan, in the ME and in the world!  So stop with the 'we will pull out', 'we won't pull out' BS and increase troop strength and get this thing over with now now!  (In uganda 'now' means later.  'now now' means now)  The same old story but, it is true: If we keep half-assing it in Afgh. more Canadian soldiers and Afghan civilians will die unnecessarily.  Back them up with more troops, more CIDA personel, more dimplomats, more experts, etc etc.  Oh and that gets me peeved about Harper keeping the lid on media relations with all government agencies.... but I digress...again.

I will keep researching:

a) how to vote from here, and; 

b) which party is the best to vote for based on both a strategy to keep Harper out, and the reality of who is best for Canada in the long run.