Vote.

Posted by Colin Temple on October 10, 2008 in Politics

Next Tuesday, Canadians will be heading to the polls to vote in our next prime minister and government.  In less than a month, our American neighbours will be electing their new president.  So for both of our countries, it’s time to exercise our rights to elect our leaders, and to determine our own futures.

So, please, vote.  No matter what your political views, no matter what your opinions or bias, if you are an eligible American or Canadian voter, please do vote.  It’s intensely important.

I don’t care who you vote for.  Pencil in your own name for all I care.  But do go down and take part in the process.  It’s very important that democracy work — that the views of the public be known.  If you choose not to vote, then your views are being ignored and uncounted.  As a result, the government may not reflect the true views of the people.

It’s easy to lose sight of things amidst all of the intense coverage and back-and-forth messages.  There are probably many people who aren’t paying too much attention to the elections at all.  If you’re feeling overwhelmed or you just don’t know enough about the candidates, take a few moments to educate yourself.  It shouldn’t take too long to look up each candidate and review their platform.  You’ll probably find one that best speaks to you.  The leaders debates may also help get an idea of how the parties differ, and how they will interact in the future.

For Canadians:

• Bloc Québécois
• Conservative Party
• Green Party
• Liberal Party
• New Democratic Party
• Watch the Leaders’ Debate

For Americans:

• John McCain and Sarah Palin – Republican Party
• Barack Obama and Joe Biden – Democratic Party
• Watch the Presidential Debates

Here’s one of my favourite points: If you don’t vote, you have no right to complain about anything the government does.  If you just remain idle and never express your own concerns, the government may do things that you don’t like.  If that’s the case, your complaints are invalidated by the fact that you did absolutely nothing to stop it. So even if you’re generally apathetic about politics, just pick a leader that’s the closest to what you want and vote.  Just think — you’ll be earning the right to complain from your couch when you don’t like what’s happening on the evening news.

Whatever you do, make your own decision and make your vote count.