On an evening roughly four years ago, I was sitting at this same desk, feverishly refreshing the Elections Canada and CBC websites, lamenting to friends over Facebook as the blue ridings stacked up but, above all, feeling regret for how uninvolved I had been right up until that night. I hadn’t voted in the 2011 Federal Election because I wasn’t old enough, but I also knew very little about the party platforms, about the key issues at stake, or about how a Conservative majority government would differ from the at-the-time incumbent minority one. Watching the results come in was my first real act of involvement in the election. Two years later, when I did a study on voter apathy among youth, I recognized my former self as one of the study subjects.
Tonight, however, will be a wildly different night for me. For one, I will not spend it alone—I’ll be in the UC Commuter Student Centre watching the results be projected at what will definitely be the hottest party that night (Disclaimer: I organized the party. The link is below because I am shameless.) But the other difference is the overwhelming optimism I feel toward the voter turnout.
Over the past 78 days (the length of the federal campaign) but especially the past few weeks, I have seen a veritable outpouring of mobilization around voting. In direct contrast to 2011, when I saw grouches complaining about the ineffectual nature of voting, making unproductive comments about the broken system (voter apathy breaks it more!), and, dare I even say it, supporting the Conservatives, this time around the criticisms I’ve seen have been insightful ones. There have been discussions about the use of Islamophobia and racism as mob-raising tactics, about the absence of murdered and missing indigenous women from campaign conversation, even about how voting is made difficult for certain minority groups who should not be shamed for their refusal to participate. It’s been a very different, much more educational and interesting election experience this time around.
Key to this experience is the fact that so much of this outpouring has been non-partisan, with the notable exception of ubiquitous Harper-hatred among my social circle. There has been an overwhelming desire, expressed on my personal social media feeds as well as more widely, to just see people my age out there and voting. The youth vote has been in critical decline over the past 20 years, but it’s hard to believe that when I see this many statuses and links and profile picture stands being taken against voter apathy. The louder and more obnoxious the newsfeed spamming has been, the more hopeful I am that this content creation will be translated into real world actions—and the significantly increased rates of advanced voters supports my optimism.
So I’m proud. Regardless of what happens today, and what outcome we see tonight, I’m proud. I’m proud of everyone who has talked about this, who has shared something on Facebook or pointed out a voting-poll poster on campus, or—and this above all—has already voted or will vote before the polls close.
I’m proud we identified real issues that really matter to us and tried our hardest to take a stand and generate action with the tools at our disposal. The idea of being a Canadian citizen, and even more so a proud Canadian, is problematic for many reasons and for many people, myself included. However, in this one singular moment, in this context of mobilization and collective democratic effort, I am so proud to be Canadian because it means I’m one of you—one of the millions of people who will have contributed to the giant conversation that is the Federal Election today.
Happy Election Day everyone. Now get your asses out there and make my little heart burst with pride.
Editor’s Note: The abovementioned party is unaffiliated with The Strand, but will be awesome. It is hosted by the Canadian Studies Student Union (CANSSU) and UC Community Coordinators (CoCos) and will begin at 7:30 PM. More details can be found here.
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