Steve (sic) Harper keeps saying it, and his patented phrase "nobody wants an election" is the most often used sound bite in the last 3 years. Who is this nobody? What time and resources is taken out of the average Canadian when it's time to vote? 5 minutes to get into a polling booth? 30 minutes more if you procrastinate and have to line up on the last day? I've seen longer lineups at any of the Tim's location.
(Holding elections cost the taxpayer money; like it or not, democracy comes with a price tag)
Harper and company is hoping that we don't want to be distracted from our "reality" shows, playoff games, and Farmville activities. He's hoping that as a backlash, we will punish the opposition parties for disturbing "our" routine.
In exchange for voting, we nourish our democratic values that is the envy of most of the world. Voting, of course, requires an active participation in the political discourse of the day. We have the best system in the world (better than the United States... but that's for another blog entry) but it will only stay that way if and when people participate.
Way to go Meldrew!!!
ReplyDelete