In all of the years that I've been able to vote, I have. Not only do I feel it's my right and privilege, but I also feel it's my duty.
For me, it's what being a responsible citizen is. Not voting, just because you don't like any of the candidates or because you feel that your vote won't make a difference is, in my opinion, irresponsible.
If you don't like any of the candidates, vote against who you absolutely don't want to win. Just think about what that might have done in the United States with its last federal election.
I work for a global company where some of my colleagues, with whom I work directly, live in the U.S.. On the day after the November election, when I was chatting with them before a meeting, two of them said that they didn't vote because, while they didn't want the Orange Felon to win, there were policies that they didn't like with Kamala Harris.
Idiots.
The United States is a two-party system. Either A is going to get in or B is going to make it into the White House. If you don't want B to get in, you ensure that by voting for A, regardless of your feelings for certain policies.
The only way to keep one person from winning is to vote for the other person.
For those two colleagues who didn't vote, while I maintain a professional relationship as far as any projects we work on together, I've severed any personal banter and don't engage in chit-chat. I've lost all respect for them.
Ontario is in the midst of an election, one that was called from a premier who already had a majority government but who has somehow felt that he needed to call this election more than a year ahead of schedule and in the dead of winter.
I think Ford is counting on Ontarians, most of whom have been recently buried under snow from two storms, on staying home again, ensuring that he wins with better but still dismal results.
Let's prove him wrong.
Remember: he's the guy who spent millions on new license plates that became hard to read at night; he spent millions on anti-carbon-tax stickers that didn't stick; he promised that he wouldn't allow development on the GTA Greenbelt, only to open it up to developers; he's spent more millions on the development of a highway that nobody needs; he's planning to spend billions on a tunnel under Highway 401, in Toronto; he's given billions to private, foreign developers, to build on the Ontario Place site; he closed the Ontario Science Museum; he's spent billions on ensuring that every Ontarian, rich or poor, gets $200 cheques (yes, even billionaire Galen Weston and Ford, himself).
Ford sat on his hands during the 2022 occupation of downtown Ottawa, which crippled our city and caused trauma for many residents in that neighbourhood. He moved slowly at the start of the pandemic, no doubt costing lives.
And let's not forget his failure to solve Ontario's housing crisis and, most of all, his negligence with our healthcare system. Ford has ads where he says that people tell him that they're sick of waiting in traffic. Well, how about those who wait for 12 hours or more in emergency wards, waiting for urgent care?
I tell you, I'd much rather be held up for a half hour in traffic than spend half a day waiting to be seen by a doctor. But sure, hand out those $200 cheques when it's going to cost Ontarians $400 to subsidize a spa that the average Ontarian won't be able to afford to visit.
Early polls show Ford and his Conservatives ahead. But we need to get them out. And it's going to take everyone getting out to vote.
We need to be strategic. Look at your riding. Look at which party—the Liberals, NDP, or Green—is most likely to beat the Conservative opponent. And vote for that party.
Overall, the Ontario Liberals seem to be in second place, in the polls. Personally, I prefer the NDP leader, Marit Stiles, and would like to see her win. But the NDP candidate in my riding, Max Blair, is an unknown entity. I've seen his signs around my neighbourhood but I don't see his presence on social media and I don't know anything about him.
On the other hand, the Liberal candidate, Tyler Watt, is ever-present on social media. He ran in the last provincial election (possibly, the last two?) and seems an extremely likeable person. He's also a healthcare worker and knows the struggles in hospitals, so he has my backing for that fact alone.
I'd love to vote NDP but I'm supporting Watt. In fact, DW, Kid 1, and I went out last Thursday and filled out our ballots at an advance-polling station.
We all need to be strategic in this election. We need to put our personal preferences aside and vote for whoever has the best shot at beating Doug Ford.
Unlike my American colleagues, we can't be idiots and stay at home.
We can't be irresponsible.
The election is this Thursday, February 27. Regardless of the weather, get out there and mark your X.
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