EDITORIAL Take the time to vote

It’s municipal election day, and your vote matters. If you haven’t already taken advantage of the advance polls in your municipality, take a few minutes today to cast a ballot.

Elections can seem like massive undertakings where one vote makes little difference. But today you have a chance to vote for the government that is closest to you and that touches your life every day. It’s the one where your voice can count the most.

The streets, sidewalks and parks are the business of local government. Schools, libraries and recreation centres are operated by people nearby. The police officer, firefighter and public works employee serve you.

Your council and school board trustees make decisions that affect all those services. They spend your propertytax dollars.

Mayors, councillors and school trustees are not distant political elites. The people who fill those positions are your neighbours. They live with the same issues that you confront in your community.

Today, those issues are clear and pressing: housing affordability, homelessness, development and a host of others. What do we want our communities to look like and feel like?

What do your local candidates plan to do about those questions and others? Read their pamphlets, check out their positions on the Times Colonist website or the special section the paper printed on Oct. 7, or talk to family and friends.

Pick the candidates whose positions and experience appeal to you, then mark your ballot.

The only vote wasted is a vote that is not cast.