Today Is Election Day! Did a Candidate come to Your Door?
Of all the elections I’ve lived long enough to witness -and pay attention to- I’ve never experienced one as distant as the one we’ve just participated in. I can remember when election time would bring candidates out of the woodwork (and I’m not that old -tee hee). You heard about so&so on the radio and that (s)he would be at your local arena, school or mall wanting to tell you their side of things. But, alas the sword of television and internet is piercing ‘ole time traditions with its technological tip; blinding those that aren’t plugged in.
Many ridings across the country that are not near the hubs of urban sprawl still rely on tradition and genealogical loyalty to particular parties and or the local candidate that makes them feel a bit better with thier sense of humour or the fact that their family has been around forever it seems. But in each case nobody can offer a straight answer to how their plan was going to effect us as individuals.
A funny thing about tradition, it becomes a part of us. My uncle and I were walking to the polls this evening and urged him to come because one more vote will inevitably make the process stronger, right?
Well, he doesn’t understand much of the world and he is hitting his late 60’s so I thought I’d help him along by telling him whom I was voting for and why and that he could vote for them too. When I showed him the name on the sign on the lawn he stopped in his tracks, stood at the side walk with hands on hips and said,
“We’re not New Democrats! We’re Liberals! If your grandfather was alive well … your great grandfather was a Liberal and when your uncle would talk about the Democrats they would fight like cats.”
He looked at me and continued up the street to the The Royal Canadian Legion to leave his mark. When I caught up to him I asked if he knew the name of the local Liberal candidate, to which he replied, “no, but they’ll tell me at the Legion.” So, I pointed out the single Liberal placard, amidst all the orange & no blue, on the street and told him the name of the candidate he had to check off when he got to the poll.
Tradition is alive and well and not one single candidate came to our door to persuade us otherwise. Did a Candidate come to Your Door?
Speaking of Cats….did you ever hear Tommy Douglas’ story of Mouseland? No? Well, sit back and enjoy a fantastic piece of Canadian History that rings true today as it has since confederation.
