The writ has dropped and the candidates are out of the gate. The 2025 federal election has come several months sooner than the October fixed date, but for many Canadians it has not come a minute too soon. According to polls taken since the swearing in of The Donald, most of us wanted to cast a ballot for our favourite horse in the race who we believe is best positioned to deal with chaos the flowing from the White House.
And make no mistake, despite the ongoing housing and cost of living crisis, the continued chipping away at our national health care program by some provincial governments and a host of other concerns facing our nation, it is The Donald and his insane trade war tariffs that rests in the top of our minds in this election.
Whether you believe current and newly minted Prime Minister Mark Carney is the one for the job, or are certain the long-suffering official opposition leader Pierre Poilievre (who has been chomping at the bit for more than a year while his party was sitting at the top of the polls) is the person for the job, or think Jagmeet Singh has the wherewithal to tackle the issue (and for whom this election is undoubtedly a make-or-break race to keep his job as party leader), it is imperative that each and every one of us take that pittance of time to mark our ballots.
Sorry Green Party, People’s Party and “also ran” supporters, your main preference will not form the government this time out, but that doesn’t mean you should not go out and vote. Vote your conscience, or vote strategically, but vote!
There has never been as existential a threat to our nation as that embodied in the current POTUS and his minions in the US Congress and the US courts.
Our national leaders need a strong mandate and the first and foremost way we can provide that support is to have a massive electoral turnout. We must not leave the door open to The Donald and provide support for his imperial aspirations by showing a lackluster interest in our democracy. We need this to be the highest turnout in recent years, if not history. Otherwise, he will use a low response as a sign we don’t mind becoming his 51st state.
So, no matter if you are red, blue, orange, green or some other colour of the rainbow, our country needs your voice. Nothing will speak louder than your vote.
Each of us has important concerns on our plates—be it making a mortgage, putting food on the table, clothing our children, finding a job or a mate—-but this is one election we simply cannot ignore.
Filtering through the misinformation and misdirection that will be coming at Canadian voters over the next 37 days will not be easy. One should always look askance at information flowing through to us via social media, the Utopian dream of citizen journalism has proven to be just another venue for bad actors to twist and turn us against ourselves.
For core party supporters, it won’t be as hard; they just vote the way they always have. But for those who move from pillar to post and mark their ballots after careful consideration of each of the various party platforms, the noise will be immense.
Do not despair. Simply avoid the social media madness and stick to the messages of the candidates themselves and their leaders rather than falling victim to Russian or Chinese (and now perhaps even American?) bots or those who would twist the truth to our disadvantage. We have a month to make up our minds—please don’t waste it by following lunacy, even if it supports your personal ideology or bent of mind.
There is an old saying from another age that runs “now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of the party.” Well, now is the time for all good people to come to the aid of our nation.
It is often said that our grandfathers fought and died for our freedom. The least each of us can do in these most dangerous of times is to get out and vote as if our lives depend on it—because our lifestyle certainly does.
Let’s get our voting elbows up—no matter which party you support.
Vote like Canada depends on you—because she does.
