聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 With the upcoming Federal election on Oct. 19, I thought it might be interesting to look into why more of the population doesn鈥檛 vote, because last year 24,257,592 people were eligible to vote and yet only 61 percent did according to Elections Canada. Why?
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Some people feel like their vote won鈥檛 matter anyways, so they opt not to vote, which is their choice, it鈥檚 part of their rights, they may take part in an election or not. Others cast their votes, although they feel it鈥檚 a waste, just because they believe if you don鈥檛 at least partake you have no right to complain if you don鈥檛 like who is elected or what the government does during their tenure.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 So, why didn鈥檛 39 percent of the population vote last election and will this change this year?
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 It鈥檚 hard to say for sure, but some simply aren鈥檛 interested in politics and they feel as though the election doesn鈥檛 really affect them directly.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Others want to vote, but don鈥檛. Why? A lot of people feel like they can鈥檛 make up their minds and instead of not knowing who to vote for they simply choose not to vote. Many ad campaigns for political parties are either misleading or don鈥檛 state what the party platform is. Not everyone has time to watch the debates between leaders and simply want to know what each party is about, but because ads are focused on, for example, a political opponent鈥檚 hair, there鈥檚 literally no information about the party鈥檚 platform and what they鈥檙e all about.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 I鈥檝e always found those ads frustrating and it doesn鈥檛 matter which party makes them, they all have past and present I鈥檓 sure. But, by focusing on a non-issue, how does someone鈥檚 hair make them good or bad at running a country? How does hair tell me what your party plans to do? And that鈥檚 what political ads should focus on, their plans. Focus on why I should vote for you, not ridiculous reasons why I shouldn鈥檛 vote for someone else.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 What will you do for me, for my fellow Canadians, and for my country?
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Not only that, how do you plan to pay for each of these ideas? Because a party platform is just that, ideas of what they want to do if they were elected. They鈥檙e promises that may or may not be lived up to because it needs to be passed in the House of Commons and approved by the Senate before the Governor General gives it Royal Assent making the bill into a law.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Nothing they say they will change is guaranteed, but if they were to tell you what they want to do and how they plan to do it, in laymen鈥檚 terms people wouldn鈥檛 be scared away from casting their vote.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Einstein, a brilliant mind, once said, 鈥淚f you can鈥檛 explain it to a six-year-old, you don鈥檛 understand it yourself.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 So making what you stand for easily understood by the entire population, would likely garner more favour than making your platform inaccessible, which they all do, I鈥檓 not singling one party out over another, I just used the hair example because it came to mind as I began writing this little rant.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 There are sites out there to help you realize where your personal beliefs align and to help you choose which party is right for you such as the website, Canada.isidewith.com. It asks you a few questions and you answer them, the website then spits out a percentage of how much you agree with a certain party.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Canada is a democracy, so figure out what kind of country you want to see, research the parties, use the quiz at the website above, and then make sure you鈥檙e registered to vote at
