Agree to disagree : To vote or not to vote

 For the first time in my life, I am dreading election day.

I normally love elections. It’s a time for me to exercise my civic duty, a time to let the government know what I think of their job performance over the last 4 years and if I will trust them for another term or fire them.

I was raised in Quebec and elections there were oftentimes a source of dispute around me. My mother was a true Separatist, my dad a hardcore Liberal. They had their side picked and they were unconditionally and utterly loyal. They never changed their minds, never even allowed themselves to entertain the idea that the opposing party may have some valid points, even when they did. They voted for Party over Candidate, always.

To me, it looked more like blind following.

Which brings me to this election.

While I like some of the individuals running for our riding, I’m not sure I can stand behind their party or their leader. Quite frankly, I think it’s time for a change, but I don’t believe Trudeau is nearly ready to take on such a big role as Prime Minister of “the True North, Strong and Free.” Don’t get me wrong, I like Trudeau. He’s charming, he’s articulate (perhaps a little too articulate at times!) and he comes from the right cloth, but that alone doesn’t necessarily make him the right leader. Or a good leader. If he was to win, I’d have concerns. The last thing we want is a prime minister causing an international incident because he lacked self control and called another leader a piece of sh*#. I understand it’s hard sometimes to work with idiots who just don’t want to hear your point, but stuff like that cannot happen.

Quebec was painted orange at the last Federal Elections. That said a lot about their level of dissatisfaction, not only with our Federal Government, but also with their provincial situation. Will we see more of the same happen in other provinces?

As I write this, I still have no idea where my vote will go. I don’t want to be like my parents and vote for the party I have always voted for, out of mere habit and loyalty. Governments have not been loyal to the people, so why should the people give them their blind faithfulness?

I also don’t want to annul my vote. That would achieve nothing. I find doing so would be anti-democratic, counter-productive, and ineffective. Sure, millions of annulled votes would make a bold statement, but ultimately, the candidate with the most votes would still take office. It defies the purpose.

So I will keep an open mind, a listening ear and try to make sense of the circus around me. I’ll try to objectively analyze all the information and campaign platforms that are thrown my way and hopefully, I won’t end up like a dear in headlights in front of my ballot on election day.

How about you Cornwall?  Who will your vote go to, and why?   Comment below.