political parties...
 

It recently came to my attention that less than 3% of all Canadians have joined a political party. I was wondering why this was and how many of you have joined a party and what were your reasons for doing/or not doing so?
I have not joined a party because I am young enough to have not sorted out my ideology in all aspects and don't want to limit myself to a party. As well, I want my vote to be annoynomous which it isn't really if you are in a party. I also want to keep open any careers in the government in which they require you to be politically neutral.

Obviously, I am not Candian....but these two comments piqued my interest.

Please explain more.

How is your vote not anonymous if you are a part of a party?

How is working in the public sector in jeopardy if you are a member of a party?

Not to threadjack, but I have never heard this about Canada and would be interested to learn more.

Technically of course, your vote is still annonoymous but if you belong to a party you are expected to vote with that party. Of course, you don't have to but I mean you usually would and ppl would assume you did.
There are certain positions in the government that require you to be politically neutral (like clerk of the legislature) and it's a little hard to claim politically neutralty if you are a long-time member of a specific political party. This is of course, assuming that you don't want a patronage appointment.

In Canada, we only have 33 (?) million people. It is easy to look through the registered members of a political party when hiring for a government job. If you sign up, your name is on a public database. It is public knowledge.

Cierah, I wouldn't worry about the whole 'can't get a government gig' thing if you are looking at membership. 3/4 of those people got there through their connections in the party grapevine.

Bad news: Political parties are Bullshit.

Like waking up one morning and realizing that your parents might not be perfect, it is the same with political ideology. What happens if you are a social liberal with conservative fiscal policies? What if the Bloq Quebecois closely aligns with your idea of a national child care strategy, but you also agree with those wacky NDP guys and healthcare?

I take a page from the American political machine during times like these, and I vote for the person. Who am I sending to represent me? What is their name? Do I like the way they speak? What issues do they take to heart? Although us Canadians vote for the party, time and again, the yanks pay close attention to Who is going. We need to do the same thing.

Imagine the difference if Primary elections were held up north here? We would have a completely different system.

Sure, but you gotta think about WHY you want the job. I wouldn't want a patronage appointment and therefore am not joining a political party. If government is gonna hire me it's because I'm the best for the job not because I'm friends with the boss. That's just my take on it though. Cheers.

Tsk tsk,...nepotism is alive and well in the government at all levels. And if you are in or near the Ottawa area and you don't speak french, you better hope you are friends with a boss because the odds are heavily stacked against you of finding employment. But if you are french and have a high school diploma, you're in luck. You should expect to start at about 40k, no experience required. I don't work for the government but could write a book from those I know who have, and those who have given up trying.

Yes nepotism is alive and well. So is language discrimination but that's a song for another day.