My fellow Canadians, you make me sick.
We've got another federal election coming and what I've been hearing is how sick we are of elections and how few people are going to bother voting.
How dare you?
People in Middle Eastern countries are protesting and dying for changes in their governments. We get one handed to us and we can't be bothered to care.
I spoke to many Egyptian people while Mike and I were stranded there during the protests.
Do you know what they wanted initially?
Fair elections.
They were willing to let Hosni Mubarak stay in office until the next scheduled election in September if only he would promise to step down and to not rig the outcome.
Such as simple request. After 30 years all they wanted was the chance of a fair election where their vote actually meant something.
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| Egyptian protesters after being tear gassed. |
It wasn't later that they decided they'd had enough and wanted his ouster. I suspect the only reason he stayed as long as he did after the protests began was he needed the time to salt away the bilions of dollars he'd stolen over the years.
Meanwhile, we have an election about nothing that despite all his protests I am sure Stephen Harper did some slick back room engineering to get.
We have a chance to have our voices heard in an election that,while engineered, will not be rigged.
We should be grateful for this opportunity, not bored and apathetic.
All of you who can't be bothered to vote --as is your right in this country-- need a refresher course in what living in a democracy means.
Maybe you should get out more. See the world. Spend a few days stuck in a police state during political upheaval. Maybe then you'll appreciate what you've got.
