The problems with election campaigns ...

I've already used this space in recent weeks to address some concerns about how we as Canadians elect our federal politicians.
So why stop now?
While I've already looked at the debates and our actual electoral system, I now want to turn to how people are unfairly influenced when it comes to voting.
The first concern is with polling.
Polling influences people by giving an impression that may not be accurate (remember very few people are actually polled) of what the election result will be. This then becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy because many undecided voters make their decisions based on what the polls say. And early polls may influence how people respond to polls later in an election.
For an example of how polls influence voters, if a poll says one party is going to win, then many people will try to vote strategically to stop that party instead of for the candidate they prefer.
As an election junkie, reading the polls and trying to predict the results is fun. But I'm willing to forego that and risk upsetting my journalistic brethren by suggesting that it be illegal to publicly release all election polling data - about parties, issues, etc., - during a campaign. It's fine outside of a campaign.
This allows voters to pick the candidate of their choice without that major outside influence.
My other concern about outside influences revolves around campaign advertising.
I don't like the fact that parties use negative advertising. While it does work - sometimes - it just sullies the entire process and puts people off the electoral process.
I think parties should get a chance to put out their message, but it needs to be done in a way that doesn't destroy people's faith in politics and government.
So here's my suggestion. Parties do not buy time from broadcasters. Instead, Elections Canada would buy time. Then parties can pick their time slots based on a first-come, first-served basis.
As well, all parties get some of this time. Each party will get a certain amount of time for spots based on the number of candidates it is running. The more candidates, the more time.
As for the spots themselves, they will be produced by an Elections Canada-hired production company and will just feature a representative from a party talking for 30 seconds to two minutes.
The party can talk about whatever it wants, even if it wants to be negative. This, at least, eliminates the negative imagery we've seen in past ads, such as guns pointed at the camera.
To make sure people know more about the campaign, Elections Canada will do non-partisan ads explaining when the election is happening, which parties and candidates are running (this can be specific for individual areas) and why it is important to vote. This is a more positive way to promote the election on TV, which hopefully will interest more people in participating.
I know there's not much chance of these changes happening, but hopefully people will think about these ideas.

Jason Small can be reached at 691-1255.