I have not researched the subject very well yet. I would like the NPD to win, but have little faith they actually can so I'll probably end up going for Trudeau because that's better than Harper. (anything is better than Harper). I particularly dislike the fact that he involved Canada in Wars, I would much prefer our country stayed neutral on these matters. The lack of a serious environmental policy and abandonment of the Kyoto protocol sucks too. Look at the progress of Scandinavia on those fronts in the past 10 years! We should have gone a similar route...
Please do not strategic vote and inform yourself - it's important to know who you're voting for, and why you're voting for them. For starters, I'd like to invite you to watch the Replay of Maclean's electoral debate:
As for a choice - I'd look into the Green Party's electoral campaign - as far as I can tell, they plan on completely pulling Canada from any intervention that doesn't directly threaten the sovereignty of Canada, and plan on investing heavily in small-to-medium companies along with sustainable energy and infrastructure for a green, powerful Canada (according to their word). Or if you are more of the humanitarian type, look into the NDP (don't just blindly vote for them) - military-wise, they plan on not involving Canada except if it threatens it's sovereignty (like with the Daesh) or if it's a NATO mandate, to protect our allies. But no matter who you vote for, please investigate thoroughly the candidates - because believe me, we made that mistake in Quebec (strategic vote to keep a person out of office - we ended up with something we all regretted). The only way we'll get a good candidate is if you vote for the people you really care for.
Yes. We voted Marois in to keep Sheephead out, and we regretted it. And the problem with strategic voting is that it's predictable - and the elections are built to profit of that effect - with the medias and such, someone with enough strategy can make it look like a two-choice - "it's me or it's insert bad choice here. For instance, look at Maclean's debate - the candidates had two modes: "Harper seriously fucked up" and "It's me or Harper because the other two choices may not be viable". And just like that, because we voted strategically against Harper, we may get a choice just as bad. Furthermore, strategic voting is not voting for your interests - it's voting just to avoid the worst. Only if you vote for a candidate you trust has the interests of your population group at heart can you really do that.