Advance polls are open this year. Take the opportunity to vote.

Courtesy of Creative Commons

It seemed like Toronto had just finished gathering up signs from the last election when the Glen Murray, Martin Abell and Cathy Crowe boards replaced them. 

For Canadians, the perpetual election cycle is likely to produce a bit of burn out; we’ve had federal elections in 2006, 2008, 2011, provincial elections in 2003, 2007 and 2011 and a recent municipal election that left a lot of voters feeling left out in the cold.

But that doesn’t absolve you of your responsibility to vote. In the 2010 municipal election, only 50.55 per cent of Torontonians voted, with many ridings unable to crack the 50 per cent barrier. In the most recent federal election, 61.4 per cent of Canadians voted after a historically low turnout in 2008 (58.8 per cent). 

These low turnouts can be indicative of a few things: a loss of confidence in the voting system, the fatigue of the process that can happen as quickly as every two years, or a simple pessimism that even if a person was to vote, their participation wouldn’t change anything.

But if we learned anything from the 2011 election, it’s that the political landscape of this country is capable of shifting radically. The NDP, which came in a paltry fourth place in 2008, won 103 seats on the way to its first time as the national opposition. 

Led by an ailing Jack Layton, the party gained 67 seats as the once-powerful Liberal and Bloc Québécois crumbled under their own weight. Perhaps voters were finally tired of a system that perpetuated the same problems instead of fixing them. The party’s success signified that it doesn’t always have to be the lesser of two evils. With enough turnout, change can happen.

And that’s where you come in, Ryersonians. Whether you’re travelling home in order to vote in your home riding, or will be voting in advance or mail-in polls, it’s important that you vote. While the Ryersonian itself has not endorsed any specific candidate, it’s important to consider how the educational policies of the parties will affect the way you go about your time at this university. The RSU has trumpeted that tuition rates in Ontario are the highest in Canada.

Perhaps more importantly, this is our province, which we will one day influence on a far greater level than the price of our tuition. It is our responsibility to make our voices heard towards how our province should be shaped.