There’s too much at stake for us to fall into apathy as voters.
One of the earliest memories I have about voting dates back to my early teens. I was sitting in our living room surrounded by my parents and their friends sipping chai and talking politics, a common sight in a South Asian household. When I asked whether they would be voting, a few chuckled and said they did not need to. The ones who always won would win again, and life would carry on. Several years later, I realized I had witnessed a perfect example of the voter apathy that often plagues many immigrant communities.
Over the next few elections, I remember staying up watching real-time coverage of the results. Some ridings were being decided by a few hundred or a few thousand votes. I was intrigued by how close the races often were. Back then, politics felt exclusively like a white man’s sphere. Though we still have a long way to go, we’re moving in the right direction toward governments that reflect the diversity of those who elect them.
We live in a massive country. We can sometimes get lost in the enormous scale of it all and lose sight that it actually comes down to whom we voters choose, in the end. And every vote counts.
Every election is important and determines what sorts of policies will shape the next few years. This time around, climate has been a big issue.
But will those who turned out to march recently also turn up at the polls? That remains to be seen.
Some feel disenfranchised when it comes to voting, others feel apathy. We cannot afford either. It’s up to us to vote in the leaders of tomorrow who, in our estimation, best represent our vision for our country.
A democracy only works if all of us participate. We live in the best country in the world, and we need to do our part to make it better. We do this by having our say at the ballot box.
If we’re not clear on where the federal parties stand on issues that matter to us, now is the time to find out. What with all of the media coverage and the platform information available on party websites, there are no excuses for ignorance.
On election night, I will in all likelihood be nursing a hot cup of chai, but unlike my family members all those years ago, I’ll do so with the comfort of knowing I did my part.