Date Posted: April 30, 2011
By Sarah Kingston (Contributer) – Email
According to Elections Canada, in the 2008 federal election first time voter turnout in BC was 33.5 per cent, more than 2 per cent less than the nation-wide average, 39.2 per cent of the 18-24 year old vote in our province showed up to the polls. In the last election the national voter turnout was an all time low at 58.8 per cent. Considering the national population, this would be the equivalent to almost everyone in Ontario and Quebec voting but no one in any other province did.
Abbotsford only had 59.5 per cent of voter turnout and 63.3 per cent of the vote was for local Conservative Ed Fast. It’s no secret, we live in a block of loyal Conservative voting cities and as the Conservative government already has us ‘in the bag’ so to speak, no party leader has visited Abbotsford as of press time Sunday afternoon even though we currently have the highest unemployment rate in Canada, an issue that all parties claim to prioritize!
Canadian democracy and life in Canada itself is inclusive in nature. I am embarrassed to say that this election seems to be anything but inclusive. Ignatieff has been asserting that the race is only between him and Harper, and historically, that claim is true; federally, Canadians have voted for Conservatives or Liberal parties. However, the wonderful part of democracy is that it is up to the Canadian people to decide what party is best suited to represent them in the global sphere and make life-altering decisions on our behalf on a daily basis.
Green Party leader Elizabeth May was excluded from the election debates this year because she did not have a seat in the House of Commons despite receiving nearly a million votes in the last election.
Flooding on Saskatchewan reserves has also taken a back seat during this election, the Vancouver Sun reports that the government says aid will be sent after the election is over, weeks after the fact. Flooding in this area is a problem that occurs year after year but the government is not prepared to deal with it when they could be winning votes elsewhere.
Whether you support gun registry, a plan for rural Canada, climate change, immigrant career mentorship, getting our seat back on the UN Security Council or the privatization of health services, vote! As university students, we all have busy lives, chronically writing papers, studying for exams and many of us hold down jobs to help pay for school, this election is between the winter and summer semesters so there is no excuse for a lack of university student turnout.
We cannot speak for the rest of the country but we can show up to the polls on May 2, we can represent our city and ourselves. Abbotsford may only get one seat in the House of Commons but with high voter turnout we show the country our priorities as Canadians, British Columbians, Abbotsfordians, university students and young voters!
Ridings that are home to universities tend to have lower turnout, says Ilona Dougherty, founder of Apathy is Boring, an organization that seeks to mobilize young voters told Global Regina. “It is an action problem, not an attitude problem,” said Dougherty. “They believe in democracy. They just don’t feel they are connected to the process and they don’t feel like they have the information they need to cast an informed vote.”
If you’re feeling under-educated about what each political party stands for I urge you to go search online for ‘[Party] 2011 Platform’ some will also have platform summaries available. On May 2nd vote for the candidate that addresses your needs and your dream for an even better Canada.
