My Vote

I vote.

Federally, provincially and municipally, I vote.

I’m afraid to admit I don’t really pay careful attention but I vote.

Because my Father’s Brother died at Normandy, I vote.

For various reasons over the years and more often than not, simply based on interactions with individual representatives “on the street”, I vote.

I don’t have a partisan allegiance and I’ve often voted simply to retain the right to bitch.

 

I would like to thank Jack Layton and his coalition buddies for changing most of that.  Without the introduction of the word “pirogue” to the common Canadian lexicon I, like many others, may have never given any deeper thought to their vote.

 

Thanks for getting our attention and thanks for contributing to our education.

 

I’ve traditionally kept tabs on the “scene-politico” by watching television, grabbing a sound-bite here and there or snapping up a crawling headline but lately have been inspired to dig deeper. I find myself listening more to the Adler’s and Murphy’s of the world, looking for deeper insight and varied opinions in an attempt to better understand the viewpoints and better qualify myself for the next round of voting…in the age of one second television commercials, radio seems to be the better interactive venue to focus on a subject for longer than a moment.

 

I don’t agree with any more of what our pundits say than I agree with the politicians they criticize. They do, however, set alight the fires of discussion and the outlay of ideas.

 

That being said, this morning I caught a video snapshot from The House. Crystallizing maybe. Mr. Ignatieff stood to criticize the new budget, (remember the budget he supported last week?) and (forgive me, Mr. Harper, if I blow the exact quotation) our PM responded by saying it was fine to criticize but he (Mr. Ignatieff) should bring some ideas to the table.

 

The crystal here seems to be that we are already under a Coalition Government and the sooner ALL parties realize that and begin to truly “coalesce” and work together without regard to who holds the title of PM, the better. These leaders are all very capable and intelligent people who have been supported to this level by their peers…the Canadian public.

 

So please, as one Canadian to another, please stop electioneering and do not abandon the business of government. There’s a hard road ahead and I might even develop a party preference and I’m afraid it may be based on who is throwing rocks at the playground and who is not.

 

Please Canada…vote.

 

Your Friendly Neighborhood Cyclist