By Caeli Hann
“I hate my sister.”
“I hate this weather.”
“I hate the government.”
No one really likes a complainer, but you can complain about your sister’s annoying habits all you want. You can’t choose your family. Sure, you can complain about a solid week of rain if you want to. You can’t decide whether or not there will be sunshine tomorrow. However, you can vote on who controls your country. If you are eligible to vote and you choose not to exercise this right, you are forfeiting your entitlement to complain about the government.
Okay, so yes, technically, you have a right to complain about whatever you want. That’s the beauty of freedom of speech. However, if you choose not to vote, don’t expect anyone to listen to your complaints.
“My friends suck.” So get new friends. “I hate smoking.” So quit. “I’m so out of shape.” So then exercise! If you are not willing to take action in changing a problem that you have control over, then you should stop complaining. Your friends, your bad habits and your fitness level are all results of your own choices. Similarly, if you are not willing to vote, you are choosing not to contribute in the simplest way to our democratic system. Voting is not only a choice, but a right.
We are lucky enough to live in a democratic country. However, for a democracy to function properly, it must rely on citizens to participate. We should appreciate that voting is now a fundamental right, not just an elitist privilege. People fought hard for us to be able to vote. If you neglect this choice, you are ignoring over 100 years worth of Canada’s progress for universal suffrage.
There are no longer any valid excuses for eligible voters not to cast their ballots. “I don’t know anything about the parties.” Log off your Facebook account for 10 minutes and google “Canadian Political Parties.” In fact, you don’t even have to log off your Facebook. If you’re too engaged in Facebook Chat, simply search “Canada Election” on the Facebook homepage.
“But voting is so inconvenient.” Did you know you can vote by mail? We haven’t quite reached the point of online voting yet (give it a few years), but you can still register to vote by special ballot. You can even register to vote in advance if you know you will be busy on election day.
“I’m just one vote. I don’t even matter.” According to Elections Canada, 12 per cent of Canada’s population is between the age of 18 and 24. After taking into account those who are not citizens, that is around 2.5 million votes.
Consider Florida. The official Florida count of the 2000 Presidential Election revealed that George W. Bush won Florida by only 537 votes. In the 2004 Presidential Election, Bush won the popular vote by only 2.4 per cent. Every vote does count.
Voting is not gambling. When you cast your ballot, you are not just another citizen blindly playing government roulette. Ballots are all counted, one by one. If you don’t vote, then your vote is not counted.
“All politicians are dishonest idiots anyway.” This is not always true and whether you like it or not, one of those idiots is going to become prime minister. You may as well have a say in who best represents your interests. If none of the candidates appeal to you, feel free to submit a blank ballot. Legally, you can’t submit a spoiled or defaced ballot, or write your own candidate for prime minister across your ballot, but I don’t think they could catch you in the anonymous act of voting.
You might not always get what you asked for, but if you voted, at least you tried. If anything, vote so you can complain with a clear conscience. We live in a fantastic democracy where you have a right to complain about whatever you want. However, if you don’t vote, stop whining about the government. No one wants to hear it.