The question for youth today is simple, why should you vote?
First things first, Canada is a democracy and voting is the cornerstone of a democracy. You may think that one vote won’t have an effect but, as Elections Canada notes, “The more votes, the more powerful the message is. In other words, every vote counts.”
As Parliamentary Assistant to MP Marie-Claude Morin notes, voting is important “because individuals in our society get the right to vote, we are given an elected representative to decide what is good for us. In other words, we are the lawmakers. It is a huge responsibility that we must fulfill, and the best way to do it is to run for office or vote in an election.”
Registering to vote is easy to do and doesn’t take much time.There are many ways to vote – here’s how.
So how will the government we elect affect our future? Here are a few obvious examples:
· Laws
· Taxes
· Public and/or private sectors jobs, and
· Government Services
We may not be starting our first careers or buying our first houses now, but we have to keep in mind that an election only happens every so often and it is important to still generally be represented throughout a period in office.
Last but not least, it is our right to vote. Some countries do not allow voting or do not permit certain groups to vote, such as women in some Muslim-based countries. After the work of the suffragists to allow women to vote in our country, it seems a dire pity to take advantage of the work they did but not voting at all. Canadian men and women are lucky enough to have a say in how we are governed and this fact should not be ignored. Not feeling like is it not a good excuse not to vote. There are many ways to vote where you don’t even have to leave your home.
The election on June 12th will be to elect the Members of Provincial Parliament, or MPPs. In other words, the candidates elected will make up the legislative assembly that meets and makes decisions for our province. This election may not focus on legalization of cannabis like the Federal Liberals, or Harper’s “Here for Canada” campaign. However, it will focus on Tim Hudak’s plan to cut 100,000 jobs, Kathleen Wynne’s idea to privatize the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC), and Bob Chiarelli’s 10-year budget of 130 billion dollars.
You don’t have to read three newspapers everyday to keep up to date on Canadian Politics. Read or at least mull over the party platforms of the candidates for your riding, talk with your parents about the candidates (if they vote…. Which they totally should!) or watch 30 minutes of news. (I mean it can be entertaining… Rob Ford need I say more?)
Vote. Just do it.
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