Well, it’s Oct. 18, election day. By 8 p.m. it will all be over but the counting.
For the past few weeks, hundreds of men and women have been working very hard for the candidates of their choice. They have been knocking on doors, dropping brochures into mailboxes, pounding in signs, attending forums and making phone calls.
And they did that not because they didn’t have anything better to do, but because they believe a particular candidate can make a difference and that voting matters.
Unfortunately, those committed people are not representative of the great majority of Edmontonians, if the last election results are any indication.
Last time out, more than 70 per cent of us couldn’t be bothered to vote and just let the election slide by.
That is a sad thing given that we live in a world where many people haven’t any option at all when it comes to choosing those who govern them and a world in which many people are willing to risk death just to have a chance to try and make a difference.
If you are one of the people who chose not to vote in the last election, I encourage you to do so this time, if for no other reason than to acknowledge the work of those who have asked you to do so.
A lot of us aren’t fond of politicians of any stripe. But no one goes into politics with the thought of doing something bad. Like the people who work to get them elected, they too want to make a difference. Sometimes they do and sometimes they don’t. But we are truly lucky to have the option of rewarding them for their successes and punishing them for their failures.
So please think about it.
If you want us to have a better transit system, there’s someone you can vote for who agrees with you.
If you think we need to control our spending, there’s someone you can vote for who is taking the same position.
Maybe it’s snow clearing or making the city safer that concerns you the most.
But whatever it is, someone is going to promise to do it for you if only you vote for them.
As my friend Ted Power used to say when we were out knocking on doors, “If you don’t vote, you have no right to complain about anything except the weather.”
