Monday Moanings - August 3, 2015

Summertime and the living is...?

It's a holiday Monday! Simcoe Day here in these parts. I've written about this holiday in my blog in previous year. Click Here for the link. Around the province other names prevail: Colonel By Day in Ottawa, Joseph Brant Day in Burlington and Benjamin Vaughan Day in the City of Vaughan. And around the country still other names head up this first Monday in August: Regatta Day in Newfoundland, Natal Day in Nova Scotia & Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick Day in New Brunswick, Saskatchewan Day in Saskatchewan, Heritage Day in Alberta, and British Columbia Day in, you guessed it, British Columbia.

A rose by any other name... it seems. Whatever it's called, the bottom line here is that most Canadians get a mid-summer long holiday weekend to revel in the all too short pleasures of summer living - boating, water skiing, swimming, bbq's, beer, baseball, wine spritzers,  lounging in the sunshine and ... electioneering. WHAT?? Where did that come from?






Ah yes the feds chose this weekend to kick off the election campaign. We all knew this was coming. We all knew that October 19 would be Election Day, but most of us including me, hoped we would be spared the hype and hoopla until after Labour Day. But NO, the writ has been drawn up and the party leaders are off and running, subjecting us all to 78 days (the longest campaign since 1872!!) of attack ads, empty promises and political rhetoric, none of it particularly good.















Here's my strategy: I will PVR the shows I want to watch, then fast forward through all the commercials thereby skipping the attack ads. I will be live streaming much more TV for the same reason as well as relying heavily on Netflix® for my viewing entertainment. I will tune into the first debate this Thursday, but will tune out if it proves too superficial or is allowed to degrade into a personality contest. I will watch Peter Mansbridge and the 'At Issue' panel on The National (CBC) every Thursday night for balanced, well thought out analysis.

The key issues for me are: the economy, the environment and health care, particularly for seniors. I cannot be bought, bullied (no, there is not a terrorist under every Canadian bed!) or conned. I know without a doubt that I will not be voting for the current leader and party in power. I have a pretty good but not entirely unshakable handle on who will garner my vote, but under no circumstances will I have a lawn sign on my yard. I firmly believe that the secrecy of the ballot box is a hallmark of democracy - thanks Dad! - and my vote is my business and mine alone.

Democracy - that's really what it's all about on this Simcoe Day. Regardless of how one feels about the current government, this elongated election campaign, or any of the other political leaders and parties, regardless of how cynical one may have become about government, we have the vote. It is our duty and our responsibility as citizens to exercise that immense privilege.

Happy Holiday Monday!

©2015 April Hoeller

Thursday, or Thereabouts - June 12, 2014

Voting Day

After some six weeks of election promises, position and policy statements, accompanied by the now typical
yet lamentable mud slinging, we get to exercise our franchise and elect the next provincial government of Ontario. The pollsters and political pundits claim this election is too close to call so campaign staff are working the phones, encouraging the electorate to get out there and vote.

It blows my mind that in my glorious and free Canada, voter turnout is so abysmal; 61% voted in the last Federal election, 49% in the last provincial and roughly the same (or less!!) in the last municipal election. My Dad instilled in me very early on the importance of voting and the responsibility of every Canadian citizen to cast a ballot on election day.

My Dad the Weather Man

Many times I accompanied my Dad to the polling station, long before I was old enough to vote. I loved those walks with him. They took on the tone of a pilgrimage to a holy site. People there spoke in hushed tones, no jokes, no laughter, polite smiles only. I learned that voting was a solemn, serious thing. I never learned who Dad voted for despite repeated efforts to get him to reveal his choice. Such inquiries were always met with a sermon about the secrecy of the ballot being a hallmark of true democracy.

I heard that very same sermon again today, Dad's voice whispering in my memory as I entered the polling station, registered then stepped behind the cardboard privacy shield set up on a desk. I believe I heard Dad snort in disgust at this rather paltry excuse for a voting booth.

Back in the day I'd watch Dad from my assigned place along the wall just inside the door of the polling station, which more often than not was in someone's home. Ballot in hand, or sometimes the ballots were already in the booth, he drew aside the curtain of the booth and stepped inside. Then he turned and with great care and deliberation slid it back in place, concealing his presence and vote. A minute or two later the curtain was swept back with a wee bit of a flourish as he emerged, then marched over to the grey metal ballot box and pushed his ballot through the slot. Two taps of his palm on the box assured at least to him that his vote was in. With glowing heart, the free man voted.

Though today lacked much of the ritual that accompanied my father's experience, I too emerged from behind the privacy screen, strode over the white cardboard ballot box and pushed my ballot through the slot. I too gave the box two taps of my right hand.

We don't enjoy the same level of trust in our politicians that my Dad enjoyed and that is a profound loss, but not only do we still get to speak freely about that, we get to vote. This democracy of ours is far from perfect but it sure beats the alternative. And so with glowing heart, this free woman voted today.

©2014 April Hoeller