I am somewhat of a political junkie.
As a teenager, I worked as an election scrutineer and on a candidate’s campaign (although it was for extra credit in my social studies class) in an effort to learn more about the political process. I took political science classes as part of my university degree, and had the fortune to observe some “interesting” political tactics when a candidate in the riding where the university dorms were located hosted pizza and beer parties for the students. Of course, the candidate was not asking that the students who attended vote for him, but it certainly generated some goodwill for that particular campaign. I mean, what university student doesn’t like free pizza and beer?
I’ve covered many elections in my time in Salmon Arm. Sometimes we in the newsroom call it silly season, because we are inundated with calls about cheque-passing announcements and baby-kissing photo opportunities.
This year may be fraught with elections, with a federal contest May 2, the scheduled municipal vote to come this November and possibly a B.C. provincial contest to see if Christy Clark can legitimize her premiership with the electorate.
Normally, I find elections exciting and enjoy the process, the debates, the public discussion of the priorities and directions of our governments. But I must confess this upcoming federal election has left me feeling flat-out bored.
There’s little reason to get excited in the Okanagan Shuswap riding, which has long been a bastion of the Reform/Conservative Parties. Frankly, It’s hard to see the vote as being any less than a cakewalk for current MP Colin Mayes, who’s becoming comfortably ensconced on the Conservative backbench. Despite a few issues where Mayes got his knuckles rapped for making a few out-of-turn statements, he has kept his head down and his support for Stephen Harper firm.
This is not to say the other candidates have no chance, or should abandon hope, but even they know winning this riding is an uphill battle.
Possibly I’ve been infected with the voter fatigue that seems to be creeping through the nation. We seem to be increasingly accepting of political scandal and distrustful that any politician can effect change. I wonder sometimes how our MP feels. When first elected, Mayes seemed to have stars in his eyes, eager and ready to make his mark. Now, two-terms in, that has been tempered by a dose of reality, where Mayes is a small fish in a big pond, and that pond is surrounded by a forest of bureaucrats and layers of party politics, budgets and entrenched policy. Not so easy to wade through.
Democracy is hard. It requires work. It requires that citizens speak out and rally for what they want from government. Sometimes, that seems tiring, even for those of us who have an innate interest.
But remember the alternative. It’s called dictatorship.
-Tracy Hughes is the editor of the Salmon Arm Observer
