Here we are, five days into the Canadian election campaign, and rumbling just underneath the surface is that troubling question, Does anybody really care? There are some who say this current election is a big waste of time, money, and voters' patience, that the politicians should just do what they were elected last time to do and not bother us. One woman, writing in to the Globe and Mail, laments that in the Middle East people force governments to hold elections while in Canadian governments force people into elections. Another, a civics teacher, begs everyone to just not vote. Busy people weighed down by life's responsibilities wonder, well, what will it change anyway?
But just as people in the Middle East can find themselves fighting for democracy after years of dictatorship, so can we find ourselves wondering, where did ours go? Last election, only 58% of people voted. Among young people, the percentage fell to 30%. Stephen Harper, when asked how he felt to be the first prime minister in Canada to be found in contempt of Parliament, muttered, "It was just a vote in Parliament."
"Just a vote in Parliament"?? Just the response of the highest democratic institution in the land to the behaviour of the person with the most political power in the country.
This is why I believe this election is about reaffirming Canada's commitment to democracy.
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