{"id":17356,"date":"2016-11-28T13:18:06","date_gmt":"2016-11-28T13:18:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/traceyarial.nmd.cc\/blog\/?p=17356"},"modified":"2018-01-29T22:30:18","modified_gmt":"2018-01-30T03:30:18","slug":"low-vote-threaten-democracy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/traceyarial.com\/blog\/en\/low-vote-threaten-democracy\/","title":{"rendered":"Is Canadian democracy threatened when few people vote?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Verdun citizens have a great opportunity to vote this week.<\/p>\n

They can vote in a provincial representative who really knows how to get things done within the current party in power or they can choose someone who really understands Verdun well while giving the current party in power a wake-up call that change is needed now. If they choose the second option, they can choose a woman who understands politics well and left the current party in power because she doesn\u2019t believe they\u2019re ethical or they can choose a businessman who is campaigning about improving schools in Verdun.<\/p>\n

Any of those choices will give us a well-rounded committed hard-working representative in the provincial legislature.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, if recent trends persist, most people won’t participate.<\/p>\n

According to Quebec’s electoral body, the rate of participation in by-elections<\/a> ranges from 18% in 2013 to a high of 81% in 1979. Most of the time, they hover among the 30% rate.<\/p>\n

Isn\u2019t that a problem for our democracy? I think it is, as do most politically active people.<\/p>\n

That’s why so many of us have been working to inform Verdun citizens.<\/p>\n

Most of the local candidates have been working hard to get out the vote. All of them have spent hours going door-to-door, standing at Metro stops and meeting with groups and individuals to make their message heard.<\/p>\n

Monsignor Richard high school set up a debate and 325 students came out to hear the candidates speak.<\/p>\n

One of the candidates organized a public debate at the Epiphanie Church on Wellington last week when he saw that there wasn\u2019t one scheduled.<\/p>\n

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Veronique Martineau speaking to Verdun restaurants at Baobab<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A municipal councillor and local parents invited candidates to present their messages individually to electors at a local coffee shop last Saturday.<\/p>\n

Still, lots of my neighbours say they’re happy to let others make the choice for them.<\/p>\n

That approach isn’t getting good results. According to various reports,\u00a0Quebec has an unusually-high\u00a0drop-out rate<\/a>, the highest taxes<\/a>, the highest migration rate<\/a> and a “middle of the pack” score<\/a> on health. Everyone knows how bad the roads are.<\/p>\n

These are all\u00a0issues handled by the provincial government and if we want these things to be improved, we had better make sure that the people who represent us\u00a0are going to act.<\/p>\n

That’s why I voted yesterday. Unfortunately, there were only five of us there.<\/p>\n

Luckily, there’s still time.<\/p>\n

The provincial election office has set up voting stations in homes, in senior centres and at public locations yesterday and today.<\/p>\n

To learn more about the candidates vying for your vote, consider listening to the 20-minute interviews I did with each of the top three candidates for my new podcast. They are: Isabelle Melan\u00e7on<\/a>, Richard Langlais<\/a> and Ginette Marotte<\/a>.<\/p>\n

If \u00a0Verdun\u00a0residents prefer, they can choose one of the single-issue\u00a0candidates or candidates who represent the less-popular parties.<\/p>\n