Columnists
SNAP – 2025
Have you been doing your homework? If you’re old enough to vote then you’re old enough to know better as regards the upcoming Federal Election. You deserve to know better. You do a little bit of digging beyond the social media memes, the cartoons, the iffy “facts” and what your friend’s brother’s boss has to say. Do your darn homework. If doing your homework means you visit your local constituency office to gather information and ask all of those burning questions or you read the “litterature” that has been stuffed into your screen door or you visit the candidates’ websites or their social media pages, then for goodness sake do it. This election we cannot afford to sit back, hope the outcome doesn’t negatively affect us and then whine if—or when—it does. Right now we are distracted by the screaming and shouting going on in the apartment below us, the USA. We must ensure our X is well-intentioned, carefully thought out, researched to put the person in office who will best deal with our domestic issues as well as our global concerns.
The problem with our “snap” Federal Election being in full swing, right now, is all of the global “distractions” going on. It’s a bit like having a box full of fireworks ready to be individually lit for our viewing pleasure and someone accidentally drops a lit match into the array. Everything’s going off at once. Some of it is ooh-able and aah-able. Some of us cover our eyes. A few of us will plug our ears. A whole lot of what is happening in the USA is just too much flash, flag waving, misinformation and way too much noise. When the kaboom-ing and flaring subsides, there might be some nervous giggles, a few tears, whoops from the people who love a spectacle, oodles of people finger-pointing and vow to be more careful the next time while tears are shed over the disaster it all was. And let’s not forget the people who are left with the mess that needs to be cleaned up after the fire is put out and the smoke subsides. But we sure as H E double burning school houses don’t want to deal with that type of spectacle during an election here in Canada. Homework must be done. The hubbub needs to be being kept to a minimum. Ranting and raging needs be simmer down. I, for one, am doing a whole lot of fact checking on all party platforms. I have a pros and cons list for each candidate and, more importantly, one for each of the party leaders.
We absolutely cannot pretend that this election will be a race amongst all of Canada’s political parties. If we’ve been paying attention to the polls it is clearly about the Conservatives and the Liberals. This is not to say the other parties are without purpose or they don’t have great platforms or a great track record. They do. I know it. You know it. And, I’m not telling anyone how to mark their ballot. It would be wonderful to see something other than the Conservatives or the Liberals at the helm. And, there have been surprise outcomes before. However, I really don’t think this election will be one of those occasions. Along with our homework—and I mean homework on all party platforms— we must consider corresponding with party leaders about whether or not they intend to work closely with all elected Members of Parliament. In the House of Commons it’s imperative to have lively, informative debate on all topics without creating the kind of din that distracts the House and the voting public. I’m urging all y’all to let the candidates know we don’t want distractions (in the House, in the news, on social media platforms) that are off-topic, libellous, slanderous or fodder for tabloid publications. The voters are the people who pay the freight for elected officials. We should be treated with respect and dignity for our trust in the system and our needs as citizens.
Make sure you are registered to vote. Learn to identify misinformation and disinformation. Get informed on what matters most to you. Speak up and speak out on those matters. Write to your MP and PM with your questions and concerns. Encourage healthy discussions with friends and family. VOTE.
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