I Ate What?

I have been avoiding publicly journalling for the past week as my thoughts have been dominated by the current political situation in Canada. I was never a politically orientated person until I came to the conclusion that it is pretty much impossible to become an activist of value if one does not tackle social issues by holding their government responsible to represent their values.

Over the past couple of weeks Canada has been polarized by an attempt to oust the minority Conservative government by replacing it with a coalition government. With all the political maneuvering and rhetoric flying around, I have learned something: our ignorance can be used to manipulate us.

Stephen Harper used our lack of understanding of our parliamentary democracy to suggest that our system is plebiscitary and then proceeded to whip up a public frenzy by suggesting that if a coalition government was formed, our votes in the past election did not count. The only way my vote does not count is when my member of parliament votes according to his party’s guidelines as opposed to his constituents’ wishes.

What really dismays me is that the biggest argument against the coalition was that the government should be focusing on the current global economic crisis and not these political games. So why was the public not outraged when Stephen Harper proceeded to make our votes not count by proroguing parliament to avoid a non confidence vote? Now unless your MP is a member of cabinet, you have zero representation in government for the next six weeks. Good thing we are not facing an economic crisis.

All this being said, I am not saying I support the coalition. I am just saying that it is time our government start representing the people the way it was meant to. Let them stop relying upon our ignorance and our typical unwillingness to speak up, and start governing the way the system was designed to work.

I personally am disgusted by all the politicians in this country and I am even more disgusted by the general apathy and ignorance displayed by the citizens of this country. It is time we cared enough to take the time to become properly informed. This is one of the major reasons I am so passionate about instilling a sense of activism in those around me. This is the way to global change.

“There is nothing more frightful than an active ignorance.”
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749 - 1832)