Gratitude Monday--Election Edition

This is only wild rose I want to see blooming in Alberta

Today is election day in Alberta. I am grateful I live in a country where I can vote without fear. 

That said, I do have fear this time. I am scared the Alberta Wildrose Party will take the helm of the province and send us reeling back in time a few decades.

Leader Danielle Smith is a smart woman who knows how to present herself and the party ideas. Some of them sound good on the superficial level. Give them some critical thought and we can see that white guys believe they speak for everyone and are listened to by everyone unlike those ethnic people, gays and lesbians do not need protection (and by inference do not deserve same) and that the jury is still out on climate change.

She will, however, balance the budget on the backs of the poor and the ill while patting us on the head and handing out $300 cheques.

But this is Gratitude Monday and I'm getting away from my point.

I am grateful that by tomorrow we'll probably have a viable Opposition in government for a change. And that means no matter who gets the nod from the voters there'll be others on the job to keep them reasonably honest.

I am grateful I live in a democracy, but I do wish more of us would use it.

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Clenching My Jaw For Democracy

These mountains along the David Thompson Highway are called Ex Coelis, "Out of the Clouds." They were named for the 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion of the 3rd Brigade of the British 6th Airborne Division. These men jumped out of an airplane into a war zone so we could vote. I wonder how they'd feel knowing so many of us don't care?

Tuesday we take another trip to the ballot box to select our federal representatives for another few years.
I’m glad to do it. Too many people fought and died so I could take a few minutes to let the government know what I think of it.
Voting is a privilege and an obligation. It offends me how many of us are too lazy and too apathetic to care how we are governed.
I’ve have written in the past about how voting ought to be mandatory. I’ve given it a second thought. I am forced to clench my jaws and admit that as reprehensible as this is within the right to vote is the right to not vote.
We ignore the ballot at our peril, but we are free to do so.
I say to the non-voter that your choice is wrong. Apathy gives us the leadership we deserve.
You think your vote doesn’t count? If 40 percent of voters turn out, then it means that 60 per cent of us didn’t.
If those 60 percent made their mark, then the election would have a different outcome.
Maybe the governing party would be the same, but it might have a stronger majority. Or maybe the Opposition would be stronger and better equipped to keep the governing party in line.
Voter apathy disgusts me. It’s a slap in face to every man, woman, and child affected by the wars that were fought to ensure our right to cast a ballot for whomever we please.
Do you think you’re taking a stand by not voting?
You are not.
If we had mandatory voting and you refused, then you’d be making a statement. I could muster up some grudging respect for you.
As it is, all you’re doing is exercising your right in a free country to ignore how your country is run. You take no interest in it; therefore you have no right to complain.
I want nothing to do with you.
Non-voters disgust me.
No matter what the choices are in the voting booth, there is a choice. This is a democracy. Here’s what democracy means. I think many of us have forgotten.
The current government brought in a law calling for fixed election dates. Prime Minister Stephen Harper broke his own law to hold this election. He argued Parliament was stymied due to the antics of the Opposition.
I think he smelled blood in the water and proceeded to ensure matters stalled so he could call this election and win a majority.
If he’s willing to break his own law with a minority government, what fun will he have with a majority?
On Tuesday I will set my jaw, hold my nose, gird my loins, and mark my ballot for the party that’ll do the least damage to my country.
What will you do?

Hitting Nerves

I had my usual weekly check of my blood clotting factor. This involves nothing more than a quick needle and extraction of blood. I have it done a few dozen times since mid-December. Yesterday the lab tech hit a nerve. I gulped air and my legs swing out and back a few times. I blinked to clear tearing eyes and I breathed through my mouth.
She asked me if I wanted her to pull it out, but it was filling nicely and I wasn’t keen to give her a second shot at me.
She seemed nearly as traumatized as me. My pain was transient even as the memory of it stayed, so I’ll be fine. I’ll see her again, probably even today as I have to go back to the lab to get a Holter Monitor.
I hope she’s gotten over it.
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This put me in a fine mood for reading the newspaper.
I was so heartened to read that George W. Bush was so profoundly moved by sending all these men and women to injury and death in Iraq that he manfully gave up playing golf. Such leadership. If I had anything left in my tear ducts yesterday I’m sure it would have flowed.
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Our own Glorious Premier outdid himself by calling the liberals “subversive.”
Premier Ed Stelmach is embarking on a $25 million re-branding campaign for the province and apparently, anyone who doesn’t like it is wrong and hates Alberta.
The Progressive Conservatives have been in power since 1971. They have long forgotten that this is a democracy. So have most of the rest of us. He and his party truly believe that speaking out against something the rulers want means you don’t deserve Alberta. Mr. Stelmach, Alberta has done nothing to deserve you.
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I rarely pay attention to what comes out of the Vatican, but this made my day. Rev. Jose Gabriel Funes, the Chief Astronomer at the Vatican, essentially said it’s okay to believe in space aliens.
I did already. Star Trek was always real to me.
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When nerves are hit and heads must shake, it is best to find something calming, like running water.

Vote Early, Vote Often

Monday is Civic Election Day in Alberta. All across the province mayors and councils and school boards are facing the electoral music.
Or not.
A good lot of seats are filled by acclamation. It’s too bad as a good race is important for a healthy democracy, but at least the seat is filled.

What galls me no end is people who don’t vote.

You have a right and an obligation to vote. Please don’t give me any song and dance about it being a right in a democracy to not vote. I’ll concede you are correct as you are allowed to not vote in this country. However, you are misguided.

Do not ever try to tell me you have chosen to not vote as a gesture of protest. It is not.

If we were legally obligated to vote, such as in Australia, then choosing not to vote would be an act of protest. You would be breaking the law to make a point and you would have a public forum to challenge the State.

Here in Canada not voting is not a gesture of protest, it’s a gesture of apathy.

If you have any silly notions about complaining about elected officials, then you’d better have exercised your right at the ballot box. If you don’t care to vote, then I don’t care to listen.

I say you’ve abrogated your right to complain.

There are exceptions, such as those can’t cast a ballot by reason of age or citizenship. If they care enough to complain now, then there’s a good chance they’ll get out and vote when they can.

The polls are open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Get out to a polling station. If you can’t vote for the best candidate, then hold your nose and vote for the ones who’ll make the least mess.

Then you can complain all you want.