Canadians can vote today. You can see the end of the longest federal election campaign in modern history. You can vote throughout this weekend. You can also give thanks. And we Canadians have much to be thankful for.
If you do not vote this weekend, you can get into the line-ups on October 19. That will be your last chance to vote. You have no excuse for not voting.
Voting is not only a privilege. It is an obligation on you as a Canadian citizen. It is required of you. Your vote assures your freedom. There are other countries that would certainly like to have you if you do not want to vote. Those countries really appreciate people who do not know the power of a vote.
When you go to vote, you are standing on guard. You are standing on guard for Canada’s rights and freedoms. You are standing on guard for the rights of Canadians to question, to support or to reject their politicians.
You can vote for whom you wish. You have the right to vote for a wise person or a dummy. There are lots of both running in this election. There are men and women. There are members of political parties and independents. There are young and old. There are many to choose from but only one can win in each electoral district.
And no vote is wasted in Canada. Whether you vote for the individual or just blindly for a party, your vote still counts. It matters. It matters to the winners as well as the losers. If you voted for the winner, you also won with him or her. If you voted for someone else, you encouraged them for next time.
You should always remember that people have fought and died for the right you have to vote. They fought on land and sea and in the air for your freedoms. There were also those who fought many untold clandestine battles against those who would rule without voting.
We should also recognize that the right to vote includes all Canadians 18 years or older. And they can wear anything they want when doing so. They can wear cowboy hats or Raggedy Ann dresses. Nobody cares—as long as they wear something. They can wear the collar of a priest or the dreadlocks of a Hasidic or the niqab of a Bedouin. They identify themselves and they can vote. All are welcome in Canada.
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Copyright 2015 © Peter Lowry
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