Here in Canada, we are at the midway point in our federal election campaign. So far, the Conservatives seem to be making no attempt to hide their undemocratic tendencies. Most recently, an early poll held at the University of Guelph to encourage young people to cast their ballots was interrupted by an irate Conservative campaign staffer, who declared the vote illegal and tried to grab the ballot box. Election Canada officials had to intervene, and stood in front of it to prevent him from making off with it. Read the full story here. As Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff pointed out, this is the kind of behavior one might expect in some country without such a proud tradition of democracy like Syria or Egypt, but not in Canada. What are the Conservatives so concerned about? Well, a recent article in the Globe and Mail, How Parliament Would Look Like If Only Youth Voted, shows why Harper and his minions might be happy if all the youth in Canada stayed home. It seems the Harper Cons just aren’t that popular among that demographic. But as it stands right now, this age group is the least likely to vote. Here’s one response by young people to this election: On May 2nd, divorce Harper!
Is your government treating you bad? Mine is. Here are some tips to help us get through this!
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ph_-qac-u98]
More links:
How Parliament Would Look If Only Youth Voted
How beautiful is that!
I guess it shouldn’t come as any surprise to us that Hitman Harper will attempt anything either within – or heaven forbid without – his power to win the forthcoming election.
His list of indiscretions is growing ever longer by the day. Just how long can we let this list grow without throwing him to the wolves?
That is pretty disturbing alright. Get out there and vote youth! We need you!
I think Election Day may be more interesting than the polls are suggesting, as I have heard several commentators point out that the pollsters use landlines, and 35% of younger Canadians (don’t remember the ages exactly) don’t have a landline. So part of the population isn’t being polled at all. Now, if the young people do get out and vote – and there are vote mobs that have happened, and continue to, at universities across the country – we will have a different government than is now being predicted. A new campaign asks: “You wouldn’t let your grandparents choose who you date. Then why let them choose your government?”
Unfortunately, if they don’t, the Tories are the big winners. Seems they’re the party made up mostly of the folks who won’t be around to deal with the fallout from a warming planet. And those are the citizens that turn out to vote.