As a new week dawns Canadians find themselves in the early stages of an election campaign that, if you listen to the Conservatives, no one wants. But an election is in the offing and we can only hope that this election will turn the tide of voter indifference about this country's democratic process.
Understandably many Canadians are tired of going to the polls. After all, this is the fourth election in seven years thanks to has become the norm in Canadian politics - the dreaded minority government.
While there may be some voter fatigue with having to go to the ballot box every couple of years, politicians from all stripes deserve a failing grade for reaching out to the electorate and encouraging them not only to support their view of Canada but just to cast a ballot for someone.
It has only been a century since so many Canadians had to fight simply for the right to vote. Politics was one the playground of the rich and gentrified. You had to be someone significant to have a say in the country's future.
Now that the vote is universal a growing segment of our population has become disenfranchised by simply not caring. It's a rather blunt assessment of the situation, but the voting record of many Canadians is abysmal - as is their knowledge of public affairs. Many in this country could not tell who leaders of the major parties are let alone what those major parties are and the overwhelming majority of young people could care less if the Conservatives or the communists won the next election.
Just over a half century has passed since the last shots were fired in the Second World War - a six-year struggle to ensure the protection of many of the freedoms many of today's generation take for granted. It's no surprise the biggest voters are the seniors, who has seen warfare and the hardships and uncertainty it brings.
It should not take a national catastrophe to interest people in voting, but it's a job each and every Canadian of voting age should take seriously. It's your right to vote, exercise it.
