Tuesday, May 14, 2013

The right to vote

I've lived all my life in a western democracy, and yet I've never before been eligible to vote in anything more than what amounts to local elections. Until a few years ago I lived in the island of Guernsey, a self-governing Crown dependency. Sure, we elected out own government, but with a population of 60,000 it was hardly a player on the world stage. And although many aspects of our lives were under the influence of Britain, we had no representation in Westminster.

Now, a Canadian citizen, I am able to vote for representation in a much larger community.

I just did so for the first time today, in the BC Provincial election.

It felt good.

The right to vote is important. Shame so many people don't appreciate it enough to make use of it.