It happens every time.
The writ is dropped, the Prime Minister calls an election and the groans begin; people complain ingabout their right to vote. The core activity of our democratic system.
In the 2011 federal election, voter turnout was 61.1 per cent. According to Elections Canada, 9.4 million Canadians didn’t cast a ballot.
Publically talking about politics, you get the typical excuses about why people didn’t vote.
‘I was busy that day.’
‘Why should I vote, my vote doesn’t count anyway.’
‘I know the previous guy is going to win so there is no point in my voting for someone else.’
‘I don’t care about politics enough to vote.’
To me, these excuses are the equivalent to 9.4 million sets of nails on a chalkboard.
I can understand the frustration.
Being in Saskatchewan, the only non-Conservative MP is Ralph Goodale in the Wascana riding in Regina. And yes, I can see how this would discourage people from voting.
But if you’re thinking that a vote for anyone other than a Conservative MP is a waste of time, think again.
In the Saskatoon-Humboldt riding alone, 17998 votes were for someone other than Brad Trost.
Voting structure is on party radar but it takes constituents to raise the issue higher on their priorities list. A vote for a different party or even a spoiled ballot speaks louder than not voting at all. Working for Elections Canada in 2011, I learned how votes are counted. Spoiled ballots are counted just as any other ballot, and in some provinces, you can refuse to vote out-right, which again still counts towards something.
Spoiled ballots still send a message. Ontario’s 2014 provincial election saw 22000 spoiled or refused ballots and people were talking about it. This may not seem like much in a province of 9.2 million eligible voters but if this was brought up to 9.4 million spoiled federal ballots, 302 MPs and thousands of other politicians, analysts and staffers would take notice.
We have a democratic right to get involved in governance and government. Our most accessible democratic right is voting. If there are 9.4 million Canadians not using the most basic of democratic rights, democracy is not being used to its full potential. How else do people get involved if they aren’t use this most basic of rights?
The biggest misnomer that I see is the fact that people just say they don’t ‘like’ politics. You don’t have to like politics to become involved in politics.
Getting involved is easy. Getting informed enough to vote is easy. There are many ways you prepare yourself for the vote on October 19th.
I’ve heard it plenty of times. I’m not interested enough to vote. Half the time, it is not about liking politics as a whole but getting involved in one key point or issue that you care strongly about to get yourself started.
This is a great start to the bigger political picture.
Doing a little bit of research on a candidate or party is the easiest way to become more involved. At most, there will be 5 candidates in one riding not including independents. Google their names and have a look at their websites. At the least, you’ll find out your candidates names and party affiliation so this will not be a shock on election day.
At most, you’ll know the policies the candidate or party says they support and can make a more informed decision standing in that election booth.
Taking that research one step further, every bill your MP has ever voted or not voted on is public knowledge through the Parliamentary website. Look up bills that interest you and find out how they voted at the House of Commons Votes page (http://www.parl.gc.ca/housechamberbusiness). What the member says about an issue is one thing, how they voted on a bill supporting it is another thing entirely. f you don’t like their track record, vote to get them out.
Voting is not the only form of political activity. Planning a march, a letter writing and petition campaign and talking to your MP are also ways for you to get involved in politics just as much as voting every four or more years.
If you want to take the one issue one step further than voting, make it an issue. Tie in your charity work into politics by getting a local politician involved. See which party supports your specific charity and get the party itself involved. This goes for all levels of government, not just federally.
I was in Halifax during the Nova Scotia Film Tax Credit cuts. Just like in Saskatchewan, Nova Scotia faced cuts to the Film Tax Credit when the provincial budget came out this past April. Unlike in Saskatchewan, their hard work planning marches, protests and group organization did work.
Together they were able to tell politicians that what they were doing to their industry was not acceptable.
Activism can work. Doing something to tell your politicians that more needs to be done can work. Democracy can work but only if people are willing to get involved even knowing the possibility of nothing changing.
Sometimes, whining about the flaws of the system feels better but doing something to change the system will get stuff done.
You just have to give it a try.
