No excuses

If Sarah Campbell was the big winner here in last Thursday’s provincial election, keeping Kenora-Rainy River NDP orange, the biggest loser clearly was democracy.
Voter turnout, as feared, hit an historic low as fewer than half of those eligible to cast ballots bothered to do so—making a mockery of our political system and giving a slap in the face to each and every candidate who undertook the tremendous time and effort in the hope of representing their respective constituents at Queen’s Park.
Sure, voter fatigue may have been a factor, with elections at the municipal, federal, and provincial level all held within a year. Or perhaps it was because the campaign lacked spark, although if issues like doctor shortages, job creation, taxes, skyrocketing hydro bills, “green” energy, and an education system our children deserve fail to resonate with voters, just what will?
Are people so happy with the direction our province is heading in, they felt no need to have their say? Or, more likely, they’ve thrown in the towel—resigned to the fact that no party has a clue on how to make Ontario a better place to live.
Bottom line, though, there are no excuses for not voting. No reason other than being too complacent (read lazy) to tear ourselves away from our TVs, computers, and Playstations to head to the polls. Too wrapped up over who will be voted off “Survivor” next to worry about when our community will get a new doctor, or updating our Facebook page to care if there will be jobs for our kids here.
Congratulations, the masses are officially “brain dead.”
Apathetic is the wrong word to describe our dismal voter turnout. The correct word is one letter shorter: pathetic.