April 10, 2015

by email only: jamie.biggar@leadnow.ca

Jamie Biggar
Campaigns Director
Leadnow.ca
Dear Jamie:
I am in receipt of your request to have CUPE participate with your organization in a targeted
federal election organizing effort and your request to meet regarding your plan. While CUPE
supports much of the good work done by Leadnow.ca in the past, I am quite disappointed in your
plan to elect so-called progressive candidates who can defeat conservatives. This is a mistaken
strategy that will only lead to unintended consequences.
Canadian democracy currently rests upon a party system. There are not large numbers of
independent progressive candidates out there unaligned with their partys policies. Neither the
Liberal Party of Canada nor the Green Party are progressive. Both parties have very right-wing
economic policies, do not stand for working families, or public services. Only the NDP has a
progressive platform.
A strategic voting scheme is based upon the premise that its organizers know how people intend
to vote in any one particular electoral district. Your letter says nothing of engaging in the kind of
detailed, riding by riding and expensive research that is required to make strategic choices. Even
with that kind of research, strategic voting strategies do not take into account campaign shifts or
voter turn-out. At best it is a guessing game that tends to favour the Liberal Party and in many
cases, the Conservative Party, by preventing people from voting for the NDP.
Promoting strategic voting and ignoring the platforms of political parties and the issues voters
care about, only serves to add to the cynicism of the Canadian electorate and contribute to low
voter turn-out on election day. Election strategies are for those seeking election. Turning an
election into a strategy for voters overshadows the issues and drowns out the real democratic
choices before the electorate.
Finally, we cannot encourage anyone to cast a vote for what they do not want. We work very
hard to encourage CUPE members and all working people to vote for what they believe in.
/2

-2Organized labour is a founding partner to the creation of the NDP, a party dedicated to working
people. CUPE is working solidly to elect an NDP government in the upcoming federal election.
Yours truly,

PAUL MOIST
National President
:jv/ceu
c.c.:

T. Mulcair; CUPE National Executive Board Members; P. Beattie; D. Burke; C. Dub; M. Butler; A. Healy; D. Jennings; T. Emond;
D. Ivanochko; B. Robb; M.A. Bourgouin; T. Greaves; G. Hewitt; Canadian Labour Congress Executive Committee