To the editor,
Re: It’s the system that turns off voters, Letters, Sept. 26.
I agree wholeheartedly with the letter writer’s points. I’m almost at the point of not voting in this election myself.
In four plus decades of voting, I’ve noted the sharp increase in partisanship, the broken promises, the lack of real action taken by governments to improve areas of Canadian life that should have occurred long before now, not to mention the wasted taxpayer dollars, etc. The scenario isn’t improving at all.
Trent University’s Professor Lyon was right: ‘partyocracy’ needs to be stopped and real democracy needs to be re-implemented. The needs of Canadian citizens haven’t been a priority for a long time. If they had been, we wouldn’t still be dealing with many of the same problems.
This Trent University grad doesn’t trust any of the political parties or their leaders to really put Canadians first. What a sad state of affairs.
D.E. Matthews, Nanaimo
LETTER TO THE EDITOR: It’s the system that turns off voters
To the editor,
Re: It’s the system that turns off voters, Letters, Sept. 26.
Democracy doesn’t just land on one’s plate. It is a two-way process.
I believe it is the responsibility of government to make it as simple as possible to vote, but voting is part of being a responsible citizen. Which means find out yourself how the party system works.
I wasn’t sure when I emigrated many years ago, so I talked to old-timers, went to party meetings and found that by joining with other like-minded people I could be part of a co-operative grassroots group (which could be a political party) and not just a lone voice.
I guess I will never find anyone who agrees with me as much as I agree with myself. So as grown ups we learn to compromise a little or a lot for the better governance of all, not just me.
So when we form a large group we find someone to represent us and ask that person to keep in touch with us and we keep in touch and support that person because it can be a lonely position and the media snipes at the representative and everyone says politics is a dirty word and we put up a huge ego barrier so that we can survive.
So we believe all the negative words and forget that the simple root meaning of the word politics is just the ‘business of the city.’
Pat Portsmouth, Nanaimo
<hr width=”75%”>
The views and opinions expressed in this letter to the editor are those of the writer and do not reflect the views of Black Press or the Nanaimo News Bulletin. If you have a different view, we encourage you to write to us or contribute to the discussion below.
