Fixed Elections - Were A Good Idea

The writ should be dropped this week for an October 14th election.

We were supposed to have an election next year, it was one of the hallmark's of the Conservatives Accountability Act which took away the government's ability to manipulate the vote.

For me, this will be a tough go. Around four months of this year will be spent in an election, and the wait over the by-election was even longer.

I know my efforts have resulted in change, as both the Liberals and the NDP reworked their environmental plans almost immediately after the by-election, and I hope to push fixing our democracy in this general election and make head ways on that front.

Fixed election dates make sense.

They allow candidates to plan their lives and help retain good candidates.

I know a handful of my colleagues had to step down because the timing was awkward, and I know if I had a young family or had to support people, I would likely never had been able to embark on this journey.

The fixed election law was a good idea, but there was noticeable gaps that should have been addressed.

First of all, there should be an option for a midterm election.

Two years into the election, there should be an option for any MPs to resign. If an MP resigns before that date, the party the person was elected under should be able to retain the right to vote or appoint a substitution in their lieu. This is sort of how it works in the US, if a senator resigns, the governor gets to appoint someone in their place until the next election occurs.

It means no area looses representation and everyone can make plans regarding this. If a government feels they need to go to the polls early, they could use this day.

Two years is not a long time, but four years is.

Of course, I also feel we should elect our Governor-General to have a strong figure to counter balance the Prime Minister.

Our government is just too unilateral, we are left with either following the whim of the Prime Minister or having an election. We need a balance, to ensure that strong heads do not prevail over good judgement.