Opinion: The Election is Coming

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To quote (the horribly annoying) Cris Angel, are you ready? I’m not. There is only five days to go before Canadians head out to the ballot boxes, and still I have not been wooed by any party. I know who I will be voting for, but I’m not really ready to. I’m not ready for a number of reasons but most of them are due to, or are part of, an overarching, far-reaching cause; I don’t like any of Canada’s political party’s (or any of their figurehead’s).

Instead of understanding and truly supporting a specific party, I am going to vote strategically in an effort to help secure another term for my local MP; and that is not what I wanted. I wanted to be so enamoured by the policies of one of our parties that I would feel morally and ethically obligated to vote for them. I value my right to vote and so I won’t ever miss the opportunity to exercise it, but I’m not voting to put one party in power, I’m voting to keep all the other ones out. With that said, I dare say I’m about as disengaged as I can possibly be without losing interest (and boy, I certainly haven’t lost that).

Apparently the apathetic sentiment that is in the core of the Canadian politics portion of my mind is shared among many more of my fellow Canadians. To quote Allison Jones’ article Voter Turnout Vexing Issue, “the rate (of voter turnout) has been inching steadily downward since 1988, save for a slight uptick last election. So this vote will be telling: is turnout truly on the rise or was the 2006 election a fluke?”

Jones’ question is a good one and I tend to think her latter answer is the right one. One thing is for certain though, even if the upward trend continues, Canadians on the whole are not crazy about the party’s, the politician’s, or the policies. To quote Jones once more:

“The International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance ranks Canada 77th in the world for voter turnout, with an average of 68.4 per cent over the last 17 elections. That’s far ahead of the United States with an average of 48.3 per cent over 26 elections, but well behind Italy, at 92.5 per cent over 14 elections.”

Yep – for a long time now only roughly two-thirds of potential voters cared to walk a couple blocks to help direct the future of Canadian politics. Of course, if the youth of the nation were highly interested in the election (as it appears they are in the US), voter turnout truly may be on the rise. But the youth of Canada are not interested; at all.

In an article written by Hilary Caton titled Exercising Your Democratic Right, published in the University of Ottawa campus newspaper Fulcrum, Caton cited the words of Marc Chalifoux, executive director of the Dominion Institute, a company responsible for producing various nation polls:

“‘Less than 44% of voters under 24 actually cast a ballot in the last federal election and that number will probably go down, rather than up, on Oct. 14. This is extremely troubling,’ said Chalifoux (…). Results of the Dominion Institute poll, published in the Ottawa Sun on Oct. 1, indicated that the number of 18 to 24-year olds who said they would definitely vote on Oct. 14 may drop by up to seven per cent.”

Well that’s not good, is it? Yikes.

There are two conclusions we can extrapolate from what Jones and Caton have said though. First, there are plenty (and I mean hella plenty amounts) of undecided voters. Second, if the polls – which have this current election in a near dead heat, pending on where you look – are correct (and I would never encourage truly believing in the polls, but following them can't be helped), this 2008 election is open for the taking. All any politician has to do is connect; just connect.

Wait – did I just hear someone scream ‘easier said than done, punk!’? If I did, you sir or madam, are absolutely correct.

And with just five days left until Canadians vote, it is unlikely (and I mean hella unlikely) that any politician is going to award Canadians with a perfectly written, eloquently delivered, policy detailing, apathy eliminating address that blows us away all the way to the ballot boxes -- moral and ethical reasoning fuelling our fervour.

Instead we got to settle for voting for, as per usual, who we don’t hate the least; or if you’re like me, voting with your riding (despite the fact that means voting for your second or third favourite party) to try and prevent a truly bad party from stealing your ridings seat in the House of Commons.

This brings me to the surprise conclusion of this article; we didn’t have enough time to become enamoured. I’m not ready (and I think many Canadians aren’t ready) to vote because the election date was set too soon. We’ve had essentially one debate (we’ve had two, but in two different languages in which the politicians said the same thing), television ads have teeth, but no substance, and politicians – while campaigning – are not giving substantive speeches.

I (along with many Canadians, I imagine) am interested in what some of the party’s are saying though. The Liberal carbon tax is worth looking at; I want to know everything about that plan (and how the Green Party carbon tax plan differs). I want to know if and how the NDP’s plan to introduce a “Job Protection Commissioner” would save jobs in Canada. And I want to know why the Conservative Party wants to continue to reduce taxes on (big) business.

These are not questions that can be answered in five days though. They are not questions that could be answered in five weeks that we had when the election was initially called. In order to develop plans that enamour, captivate, and motivate a nation, a party – whichever one – needs time. And unless there is a fixed election date party’s either have to a) not prepare an inspiring campaign or b) put government aside in times of relative stability in favour of preparing a future campaign.

I really don’t like to rag on Michaëlle Jean (though I’m sure she could handle it if she ever stumbled upon this) but it was irresponsible for her to call such a quick election. In the first place Harper should have kept his 2006 promise to maintain parliament until Fall 2009; this would have given the political party’s of Canada the best chance to plead their case to Canadians, and it would have given the citizens of Canada the best chance to make an informed decision.

As it is, I (along with many– and I mean hella many – Canadians, I imagine) don’t have a whole heck of a lot of time to devote to the Canadian election. On top of this, not much has changed in the world of Canadian politics (international turmoil aside) for some time. These two factors culminate in so many of us becoming completely disengaged – unwilling to vote. Maybe if we had more time (either by Jean setting a better date or by Harper holding to his word) things would be different; maybe I and others could be persuaded to vote based on substance instead of spite.

In any event, I’m about as interested in voting on October 14th as I am in watching an episode of MindFreak; I'd rather spend the time doing something more rewarding, like cleaning septic tanks or feeding bears by hand. However there is no doubt that despite my disinterest in Canada's current political landscape I will be casting my vote, I have made my choice. The question then is...

Are you ready?

Thanks for reading.

GRMM