Regina Streets Tackles Electoral Change
A confession – I absolutely love to vote! I actually thought that voting was mandatory in Canada until I was 12 years old, lol… when I found out it wasn’t mandatory in Canada, just in our house. But when I go and vote, I know that my views, like many of yours, will not be represented. I live in Saskatchewan, and it pains me that our voice counts for so little when the polls close. I also find myself a bit confused over the absolute reluctance on the part of the public and our politicians to really commit to a positive change in our antiquated first-past-the-post system. Our electoral system was designed to serve a society in which only white, male property owners could vote!! And we still use it! It served a certain population then, and it serves a certain population now.
It’s almost funny, I mean, this issue isn’t a stalled car people! The damn engine has seized!! LOL… the public has been convinced that proportional representation is too complex, and all sorts of bad things will happen! Yeesh… talk about a myth!
Now, as Joyce and Fraser rightly point out in their June article, “Changing the electoral system will not eliminate all problems, but it will go some distance to making politics real, relevant and available to citizens”. This is what counts! Sweet merciful crap, when only 59% of eligible voters show up, we’ve got serious problems! We view ‘politics’ as something that’s far away, that doesn’t matter or effect us, instead of something that effects us all deeply and influences the very society that we live in. We could implement proportional representation in Canada and even up the scoreboard a little. So many people think of politicians and think of crooks that are above the law and have little to do with their everyday lives. They don’t vote because, hell, it’s not like their vote counts, right? Wrong. This attitude has led to widespread apathy. The dirty and useless partisan games played at the citizens expense has also caused a deep withdraw from the polls. As the article pointed out so eloquently, by implementing electoral change we could hardly do worse than what we already have. It’s got my vote! ; D
Any thoughts?
Stacey
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About Stacey: Stacey is a University of Regina grad in political science. She's interested in electoral politics, poverty, and how we all interact. In her day job, she works closely with industry in Saskatchewan. Personally, her interests range from critical race theory to particle physics and cooking. When she grows up, she wants to change the world! |
