No excuse

Twin suicide bombings at a “peace” rally in Turkey over the weekend killed dozens and injured scores more.
In countless other countries, people have to brave death threats in order to cast a ballot—if they even are allowed to vote at all.
Here in Canada, election campaigns are not marred by violence. And on election night, governments and voters alike peaceably accept the outcome regardless of what it might be.
The power of the people is the cornerstone of our democratic values and traditions, which is no better illustrated than on election day when the choice of which political party forms the next government rests solely in the hands of voters.
It is a treasured right and a fundamental responsibility. Yet it’s also one more and more Canadians have been shirking with each passing election.
There has been talk of making voting mandatory. There’s been a push to implement online voting to make the process even easier. Social media campaigns have sprung up in an effort to goad more people into voting.
Whether any of this will help reverse the downward spiral of voter turnout remains to be seen. But the strong turnout at the four-day advance polls over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend—both nationally (3.6 million) and locally (7,017)—was well above the numbers from the 2011 federal election and certainly is a positive sign.
Hopefully, that momentum carries over to the actual election day this Monday.
Be sure to make your mark on Oct. 19 and have your say on the future direction of Canada. There’s just no excuse not to.