Take the time

The local Ontario election campaign certainly didn’t generate much heat, at least in this part of the riding, where the issue of vote-splitting and strategic voting provided the lone spark.
Debate on the substantive issues, though, like hydro rates, job creation, and the doctor shortage, was curiously muted here, outside of the candidates dutifully outlining their party platforms in their respective brochures and advertising. Sure, four of the five fielded questions from the audience at the all-candidates’ forum last Thursday evening at Our Lady of the Way School in Stratton, but there weren’t any fireworks and none of them offered much in terms of solid solutions or ideas beyond the usual rhetoric.
As for the “meet-and-greet” hosted by the Fort Frances Chamber of Commerce here a night earlier, the format wasn’t conducive to a frank exchange of views—and drew an even smaller crowd, which leaves one to wonder just how high the turnout will be tomorrow when voters head to the polls.
Fortunately, there is good news. Of the 365 respondents to the Times’ weekly web poll as of late this morning, 70 percent said they planned to vote in the election. Just 22 percent indicated they would not while another eight percent were still unsure if they would cast a ballot.
Let’s hope that trend holds true. Even if the local campaign was a relative snoozer, we all have a responsibility to exercise our democratic right to vote—a right Canadians have died to defend and one others in the world are dying for to attain.
All five candidates have stepped to the plate in their genuine desire to make Kenora-Rainy River a better place to live. They’ve put in the hours to knock on doors, endured the long drives between communities across our vast riding, and perhaps made other personal sacrifices to get their message out.
Surely the least we can do is set aside the 10 or 15 minutes it takes to vote.
Take the time to weigh the issues and decide which candidate will best represent your interests at Queen’s Park. Take the time to show you care about the future of Kenora-Rainy River.
Most importantly, take the time to have a say in the kind of Ontario we will be leaving our children and grandchildren.