A Broken Cycle: The Failure of Fear-Based and Strategic Voting
Since 2015, with every federal election, Canadian Muslims have been pushed toward a binary choice between two options: the bad and the worse. Each election cycle, we are told that we must vote strategically to prevent the worst candidate from winning. We are warned that splitting the vote will hurt us. We are pressured to cast ballots out of fear rather than conviction.
But where has this approach gotten us?
The Consequences of Fear-Based Voting
For years, our community has been encouraged to vote for the lesser evil, hoping that this strategy would secure our rights, protect our values, and bring us political influence. Instead, it has left us with:
📌 Leaders who ignore us once elected.
📌 Parties that take us for granted, assuming they can count on our votes without accountability.
📌 Policies that betray our principles, from continued complicity in war crimes to the erosion of civil liberties at home.
We have repeatedly been told that we must vote strategically, that we must not “split the vote,” that we must ensure our influence is not wasted. But where has that gained us?
📌 Have our votes in the past secured justice for Palestine?
📌 Have they protected Muslims from the rise of Islamophobia in Canada?
📌 Have they stopped politicians from enabling and funding the genocide in Gaza?
Nowhere has this failure been more evident than post-October 7th, as we have watched a genocide unfold in Gaza, with over 180,000 Palestinians killed, while Canadian politicians remain either silent or actively complicit.
Despite decades of community support, political organizing, and voting along strategic lines, we have been abandoned by the very politicians we helped elect.
This Election is Different – The Stakes Are Too High
This election, we have a choice. We can vote out of fear, defaulting to strategic voting for the Liberals. Or we can vote on principle—for Gaza, for justice, for a Canada that reflects our values.
If we continue to vote for the lesser evil, we will always be choosing some form of evil.
Voting on Principle is NOT Partisan
MuslimsVote.ca is not telling you to vote for a specific party. It is not recommending to not vote for Liberal candidates. We are asking you to vote on principle.
Voting on principle means:
- Looking at your specific riding.
- Evaluating each candidate.
- Having real conversations with them about Gaza, Islamophobia, and human rights.
- Demanding a clear position on where they stand.
- Choosing the best candidate based on their stance, not their party.
This approach is not about party loyalty or ideological alignment—it is about accountability. It is about ensuring that our votes are cast with purpose and impact.
Break the Cycle – Vote with Conviction
For too long, our community has been stuck in a cycle of fear-based voting. That ends now.
This election, make your vote count.
Vote on principle. Vote for Gaza. Vote for a future that reflects our values.
