Yes I Voted - This Time

To the elected leaders, be it federal, provincial, or municipal,

Today is Election Day, and it is my patriotic duty to go out and vote. It is my responsibility – nay, my privilege as a citizen of this country, as a resident of this province to participate in the democratic process. I get to choose who my leaders are and how my country and province are run by my vote. I think of many other nations that do not have this same privilege and it makes me grateful that I do. My only wish is that it was not a mockery of real democracy.

Democracy should intrinsically have an element of real choice. I understand all too well that I cannot hope to have all of my political views represented in my leaders. It would be absurd to expect this. Part of the social contract I make with my fellow citizens is a compromise in my leaders, that at least some – but not all – of my views, wishes, and desires are represented, with the expectation that my fellow citizens allow the same. The most unfortunate aspect about the democracy I see in front of me – both represented on the ballot I will mark and in the parliamentary process I observe – is that this real choice is sorely lacking.

How can we tell our children to behave with common courtesy and to exercise manners if you politicians yell at one another in a way that is indicative of a three-year-old throwing a tantrum at the grocery store because he or she cannot have a bon-bon? How can I ever have enough confidence in you, the elected, that you will do the job you are mandated to do if you care more about power than about the policies and principles that are to govern us? Finally, how can I in good conscience approve a system wherein should any individual recognize the need to rise above the pettiness and immature games that are so pervasive in politics, that he or she is made ineffective?

Is it not my duty as a citizen that rather than give tacit approval for power-hungry individuals to dictate law, I ought to protect myself and my fellow citizens from these same individuals? Should I not do everything in my power to ensure that those elected few view their mandate as a responsibility to serve the public, and not as a ticket to do what they want? And if I am powerless to effect any of this, can my apathy for anything political really be condemned?

It is not my intent to be cynical or jaded, though admittedly I am. Perhaps this is because somewhere inside me I believe that we CAN have a better system, if only those participating in it will choose to do so. Perhaps this is because I believe that our elected should be role models, examples of moral pillars and individuals who maintain the highest standards of integrity. And perhaps, most of all, that rather than seeing these ideals, I am utterly disappointed with their polar opposites that now exist and have existed for far too long.

My dear elected leaders, if you want my confidence and approval, not only for you as individuals and supporters of political ideologies but also as participants in a system that you help shape and guide, you must demonstrate that you can handle your mantle with responsibility and care. Anything less than this is a system that is broken, and a system that I cannot approve. And, most unfortunate of all, should I decide that the only way to voice my disapproval is to not vote, I am simply lumped together with the apathetic majority whom you deem as a problem. You say vote if we want to see change; I say change the system so that I can have confidence enough to vote in it. You say apathy is the problem; I say apathy is a response to the problem. Treat each other as decent human beings and display common courtesy to one another. This would be but the first step in a mile-long journey towards a political system worthy of participation and approval. Political differences aside, how can you ask me to participate in an electoral process when all I am doing is choosing who gets to throw the sand in the playground conflicts?

Signed,

A voter with a voice