Tag Archives: voters

A Feather in Canada’s (Internet) Cap for the Future

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By Jason Menard

On-line public pressure may not only serve to pull the plug on a move to cap Internet usage in the Great White North; it may, in addition to serving as a cyber-feather in our collective caps for democracy, show how we can get people involved in the political process in the future.

Lazy, apathetic, disinterested voters have been both the bane and the boon of politicians for years – a bane to those interested in making change; a boon to those who are content with pushing their agendas through parliament before the masses catch on – but a recent kerfuffle in Canada has shown that there’s something that can be the great equalizer.

The Internet. Continue reading →

Right, Privilege, or Obligation?

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By Jason Menard

It’s a good thing the skies were clear across the country for Monday’s federal election – one would have hated to see how much lower voter turnout would have been with a little inclement weather. But thanks to those clear skies, it’s plain to see that if so few of us choose to vote, maybe that privilege should no longer be available.

Preliminary numbers indicate that approximately 65 per cent of registered Canadian voters exercised their democratic right to vote. But before we go patting ourselves on the back for the slight increase in voter turnout at this year’s election, we must realize that a little better than unacceptable is still unacceptable.

Less than two-thirds is just not good enough and perhaps it’s time to stop thinking of voting as a democratic right, but rather as a civic obligation.

Most tellingly, our apathy towards the electoral process shows how little appreciation we have for the lifestyle we live and how little respect we have for those who fight each and every day for the very right we take for granted. Voters in some countries brave the very real risk of casting a ballot under a hail of bullets – and yet a simple hail storm can have disastrous effects on the number of votes cast in this country.

Canada ranks an embarrassing 77 th out of 172 countries for voter turnout, according to a list published by Sweden’s International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance. The list compiles statistics from all Presidential and Parliamentary elections since 1945 and finds that Canada has averaged 68.4 per cent in voter turnout – and we appear to be working hard to lower that number with each and every passing election. On the bright side, we’re better than Mali, where only 21.7 per cent of voters turn out, but we’re shamed by the Italians, who come out in droves on election day to the tune of 92.5 per cent.

Of course, the Italians have long place innocuous sanctions against those who choose not to vote. Essentially, those who choose not to vote may have a tougher time getting access to government services. In Belgium, they go a step further. With the world’s oldest compulsory voting system, which was established in 1892 for men and 1949 for women, Belgians aged 18 or old who choose not to vote may be levied with a small fine. More importantly, if they fail to cast a ballot in at least four elections, then they lose the right to vote for 10 years.

Other countries have similar formal and non-formal sanctions, and the practice is hotly debated in each and every country. That being said, according to International IDEA, 84.9 per cent of Belgians get out and vote.

So what’s the answer? Politicians and non-governmental organizations have tried every trick under the sun to engage the electorate in the process. Polling stations are set up so conveniently that people can basically crawl to the ballot box – and, of course, if you need a little help getting to the vote, the political parties will fall all over themselves trying to get you there.

But how do you cure apathy about the process? It’s clear that there’s no apathy about the government, because while only two-thirds of us vote, a much higher percentage feels free to vent our opinions. So it’s the actual process of getting to the ballot box that is the impediment.

Forcing people to go to vote with sanctions is not the right answer. You have to weigh what’s better: a smaller voter turnout with people who are engaged in the process and, hopefully, knowledgeable about who they’re casting a ballot for; or a larger cross-section of people, some of whom may spoil the ballot or cast protest votes out of spite?

Maybe the Belgians have it right. Voting is your privilege in a free society, but if you don’t use it you lose it. To maintain the right to vote, you have an obligation to exercise it.

After all, the small amount of work it takes to make and execute an informed choice in an election pales in comparison with the Herculean efforts other people in this world go through just to exercise the very right that so many of us take for granted.

2006© Menard Communications – Jason Menard All Rights Reserved

Latest Poll a Test of Lefty Faith

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By Jason Menard

While some may look at the latest Decima Research poll as the final nail in a long-delayed Liberal coffin, it may in fact be the defibrillating jolt that the Grits need to breathe new life into their campaign.

It’s serious now for many Canadians. The debates are out of the way, the holidays are past, and the dull grey January weather is the perfect background for playing out this political drama. And with the latest poll results showing the resurgent Conservative Party enjoying a nine-point lead amongst decided voters and those who are leaning in one direction, we’ve come to the time when the left-leaning voters have to make their choice.

It’s a test of faith that will decide the outcome of the next election.

Nine points is nothing to laugh about. At 39 per cent of the decided voters, Stephen Harper’s Conservatives are sniffing a majority government. Alone on the right, they’re not only enjoying voters’ lack of trust in the Liberals, but also their apparent belief in the power of Jack Layton’s New Democratic Party. Even in Quebec, the Conservatives appear to be working their way back from the brink of extinction to become an actual viable alternative, as evidenced by their six point increase of support that comes courtesy of the Bloc’s precipitous drop of 11 per cent support.

So the path of the current election is clear. If voters hold true to their stated intentions, the Conservatives will ride to a majority and the Liberals will be swept from power. But in this majority scenario, so too does the left-of-centre influence find itself on the outside looking in.

That’s where those left-leaning voters have to do a gut check and see where their priorities lie. And it’s the only hope the Liberals have to retain any semblance of power.

As Layton has expressed repeatedly through the campaign, he feels the Conservatives are just wrong on the issue and he appears to be angling for a stronger role for his NDP candidates in the next House of Commons. This campaign strategy is all fine and dandy when we’re looking at a minority government because, as he’s shown, a smaller party can have a disproportionate impact on the fortunes of the government. But in a Conservative majority, how much influence will those powerless MPs really have? In essence, Layton could find himself with more NDPs in the House of Commons, but with less power than he enjoyed in the last House with fewer representatives.

In last year’s election, polls pointed to a dead heat between the Conservatives and Liberals as voting day approached. Apparently, once voters got to the polls, they chose to vote strategically and not with their heart as NDP support migrated to the Liberal camp in order to keep the Tories and their alleged right-wing agenda out of power.

If lefties were scared last year when the polls showed a neck-in-neck race, they must be quaking in their boots now at the prospect of a Conservative majority.

Best of all, for the Liberals, is that the numbers are so striking the average Canadian can easily do the math and draw their own conclusions. There’s no need for the Grits to unleash the smear-and-fear strategy – the writing’s already on the wall and the voters don’t need anyone to spell it out.

Unfortunately for Layton, it appears that most Canadians view the NDP as a wonderful party to act as the country’s conscience, but not one to actually take Canada’s reigns and guide it in the next House in a leadership role. So that leaves the tried-and-tested Liberals.

Those soft-NDP voters, and even those disgruntled right-wing Liberals who have drifted to the Conservatives, have to take a look at the strength of their convictions. The reality of a government dominated by a right-of-centre party is upon us and they have to choose what they want their Canada to look like.

Much like Quebec, where elections are less about parties than ideologies, this federal election is shaping up to be a battle not between individual candidates, but rather a contest pitting right versus left. The battle is at hand and the right has their champion. The leftist camp has to decide whether to continue to split its forces, or consolidate their power into one front.

Voting with their hearts or their minds – it’s a test of faith for the left in which the country’s future rests.

2006© Menard Communications – Jason Menard All Rights Reserved