大选专栏(八)： 按族裔路线投票不利于加国政坛

 

 

 

 

在我们介绍即将来临的联邦大选中的华裔候选人之前，我们有必要先探讨一下族裔候选人的定义和影响。在2014年10月市选结束后我曾写过这个主题，在本文中我会再次重复那篇文章中的一些观点。

Before we look into candidates of Chinese heritage in the upcoming Federal Election, we must have a discussion on its definition and impact. I have written on this topic after the last municipal election in October 2014 and I am repeating some of my thoughts here from that article.

 

如前所述，由于现任候选人拥有政绩、选民和企业人脉，并且在媒体上也拥有一定知名度,因此他们不在此次讨论范围之内。此外，在加国出生的移民子女也不是真正意义上的“族裔候选人“，因为他们的状态和身份已在不同程度上与自己文化背景有不同的父母脱离。

As mentioned before, Incumbents have the advantage of having a performance record, human and business connections, and name recognition in the media so they are not in this category. As well, Canadian-born children of immigrants are really not “Heritage Candidates”. Their ties and status are severed from their parent’s culture to varying degrees.

 

在联邦大选中，政党候选人首先必须成为选区的提名候选人并通过预选。提名候选人必需尽可能多地发展新党员，并说服他们在候选人提名战中投票支持自己。因此，在候选人提名战期间选区党员数量激增数倍的情况并不罕见。

In the Federal Election Arena, party candidates have to first become a nominee for the riding and ran through a preliminary contest.  Nominees will sign up as many party members as possible and get them out to vote for them during the candidacy race. It is not uncommon to see riding membership for the party to balloon many folds during a candidacy race. 

 

提名候选人首先必须填写一张非常详细的申请表，并向政党提供相关文件。这样做是为了审查提名候选人的诚信度，以免政党在将来遭遇难堪。

The nominees must first complete a very detailed application form and supply supporting documentations to the political party. This is done to check on the integrity of the nominee and save the party from any future embarrassments.

 

由于族裔候选人拥有（非英语或法语）之语言优势以及企业和社区人脉，他们在族裔聚居区往往比其他候选人更具优势。此外，有未经证实的传言称在族裔候选人之间会通过谈判排除一些胜算不大的竞争对手。他们往往会在提名前直接或是通过中间人间接进行这种谈判，以免在选区候选人提名战中出现选票分散。

Heritage Candidates, with their linguistic (non-English or French) abilities, business, and community connections can gain a great advantage over others in ethnic enclaves. There are also unconfirmed practices of negotiations amongst heritage candidates resulting in the eliminating of some that do not see a reasonable chance of success. These are done either directly or through intermediaries at the pre-nomination stage to avoid the splitting of votes during the riding contest. 

 

在许多情况下，族裔候选人都具有“明星效应”或“专业身份”，而这两点都会吸引来自和候选人相同族裔或是同一原籍国的新公民的选票。在许多族裔的文化中，某些职业会受到无条件的尊重，比如医生、律师和学者教授等，其重要性甚至会超过候选人的沟通技能、政治经验和个人行为。

On many occasions, heritage candidates will be combined with “Star Power” or “Profession status” – both of these will attract votes from new citizens from the same heritage or country of origin as the candidate. In many cultures, respect is given unconditionally to certain professions – Doctors, Lawyers, Academic professors, etc over the candidate’s communication skills, political experience, and personal conduct. 

 

赢得选区候选人提名战并不一定会成为政党候选人，因为政党领袖总是可以“空降”另一名“更合适的”候选人顶替候选人提名战的胜者参加选区竞选。这也是加拿大联邦政党体系和英国联邦政党体系的不同之处，在英国这决非轻易而采取的行动。加国政党领袖利用这个工具控制党内的“叛逆者”，但这对在受影响选区参与投票的党员显然不公。

Winning the riding nomination is not always a ticket to become a party candidate. The party leader can always “parachute” another “more suitable” candidate into the riding to take away the winner’s spot. This is the difference between the Canadian Federal Party system and that of the United Kingdom’s where this practice is not taken very lightly. The Canadian Leaders use this tool to keep control on “rebels” within their party and this is not fair to the party members who voted in the affected ridings.

 

有时候，一些外国政府出于政治利益也会培植自己的“族裔候选人”。许多时候，为达到政治正确目的，内阁部长职位会遵循政治或族裔路线拱手送出。如果这些候选当选内阁部长，他们就可以直接制定有助于其原籍国的政治和商业利益的政策和法规。

Sometimes, foreign governments can plant their own “heritage candidate” for political gains. Cabinet posts are considered and handed out many times along Provincial and Heritage lines on “Political correctness”. If selected as Cabinet Ministers, they have a direct hand in making policies and laws that can provide political and business advantages to their country of origin.

 

投票支持“族裔候选人”的选民往往是出于“民族自豪感”，因为在他们当中有许多人都因为原籍国允许而持有双重国籍。

For the voters who are voting for the “Heritage Candidates”, they do so to feel the sensations of “national pride” since many are still holding dual citizenships where permitted by their country of origin.

 

按族裔路线投票不利于加国政坛。候选人还必须争取来自自身族裔群体以外的投票。许多选民仍会按政党背景投票。而另一些选民将会投票支持拥有丰富政治经验并且在社区参与方面表现不俗的候选人。

Voting along heritage lines is not healthy for Canada. Candidates must also get votes from outside of their own cultural groups. Many voters will continue to vote along party affiliations. Others should vote for those candidates with proven track records of commitment to the Community with adequate political experiences.

 

在下一篇文章中，我们将介绍各省的“族裔”候选人，尤其是亚裔或华裔候选人。

Next time, we will look into distribution of “Heritage” candidates for each province with a focus on those with an Asian or Chinese heritage.