Tag: vote

Election day in Canada. Democracy in action. Broken democracy, though. Our democracy is set up so that everyone to the west of Ontario knows, before they vote, that their vote is meaningless and wasted. That they don’t make a difference. And within my riding, I know, before I vote, that my voice is lost. That the sea of Reform/Conservative voters will wash away any of us who want to stand for something more than cutting taxes as the response to every issue.

My vote counts for nothing. My mother, who, along with my father, are staunch Harper supporters, who work in his campaign office, and have a giant HARPER billboard on their lawn, describes my support of the Green party as “spoiling my ballot”.

So be it.

My ballot is spoiled.

But I think it is an extremely important thing to do – to register dissent, rather than silently abstaining. To be one of the few who vote against the Harper madness. To make it known that tax cuts and cowtowing to Bush are not sufficient practices to properly govern this great country. Better to spoil a ballot than to spoil what’s left of our country by supporting Harper and his thugs.

My ballot is NOT spoiled. I have drawn my line in the sand. And I can only, desperately, hope that I’m not alone.

My ballot is not spoiled.