In an election which could produce a Stephen Harper phony majority, or a Groundhog Day, citizens of Edmonton-Strathcona are setting an example for the entire country. 

The district is the only one of 28 in Alberta not held by the Harper Conservatives. The New Democrat MP, Linda Duncan, edged Conservative Rahim Jaffer by a whisker in 2008. She had multi-partisan support then, and again this time she’ll need every Green and Liberal vote she can round up to beat the energetic and focused Harper Conservative machine. Edmonton-Strathcona was the first riding in which the Catch 22 Campaign made an endorsement.

Duncan and  friends are not helped by the national messaging of Jack Layton and Michael Ignatieff, each of whom is urging votes for his party everywhere - while at the same time insisting  that a Harper majority government will be a disaster for Canada.

This blindly partisan schizophrenia and gobbledegook is a luxury Canada in 2011 can’t afford.

Voters in this country are faced with 308 separate winner-take-all contests, most of them foregone conclusions. This is ridiculous and frustrating for the millions of citizens who are denied representation– but it’s the system we’re saddled with to date.

In the few swing districts which could actually change hands in 2011, a handful of swing voters will decide  the fate of the government and the country.  Catch 22 urges those voters in those districts to understand their special situation and take the responsibility very seriously.

Many Liberals in Edmonton-Strathcona already understand that their party’s national message is irrelevant in their situation. Some formed Liberals for Linda in 2008 to put the NDP’s Duncan over the top. They’re doing it again in 2011. The Greens in Edmonton Strathcona would do the entire nation a service by imitating the local Liberals.

The  Liberal Party of Canada  doesn’t officially  recognize the wisdom of its Edmonton-Strathcona loyalists –but it’s not punishing them either. The Liberal nomination was going begging so the party appointed an ambitious 20-year-old to carry the Liberal colours. Catch 22 hopes the young man contrives to siphon as many votes from the Harper Conservative as he does from Linda Duncan. Read more about Edmonton Strathcona here:

University student running for Liberal seat

"It's very ad hoc. I guess you would say grassroots. We all believe in being a bit more strategic in our vote," said Steven Leard, normally a Liberal voter who is organizing a wine-andcheese reception for Duncan next week. Leard ran for the provincial Liberal party in 2004 and has volunteered for federal Liberal campaigns in the past. He may "always be a Liberal," he said.

There is an orange Duncan sign on his front lawn, he said. "Orange signs right down the street. I know the people. I know generally the way they think, and they are being strategic."

Catch 22 salutes the Liberals for Linda for making sense of this election in their district. They are heroes of Canadian democracy.

Catch 22 calls on  Liberals, New Democrats, Greens and Bloquiste voters in our designated swing districts to follow the clear and effective example of  Edmonton’s Liberals for Linda. Whichever party’s candidate has the best chance to defeat the Conservative, make your cross-party support  for that candidate loudly and visibly known.

With advice from local activists, Catch 22 will publicize the name of the consensus anti-Harper-Conservative candidate in each district. The process kicked off in Ottawa on Monday and continues tonight in Vancouver. Using a combination of local supporters and online tools, the Catch 22 Campaign hopes to reach as many voters as possible in these critical races. The campaign intends to finalize all of its endorsements by April 8.

When the smoke clears after May 2, and Canadians have again denied Stephen Harper his phony majority government, Linda Duncan, Edmonton’s Liberals for Linda and other Alberta Liberals, New Democrats and Greens should demand a national discussion on democracy, majority rule, the fair representation of all voters, and how to fix Canada’s perverse  voting system.