We are fast asleep when it comes to the federal election.
While in the U.S., well over a year before their 2020 presidential election, it’s been full-on campaign mode, up north the level of engagement has been quite sad.
With just over a month left before we mark ballots, it seems few people care.
The political parties here in the Sea to Sky area stalled rolling out their candidates.
The Liberals have only recently unveiled their choice for our riding.
In an even more dismal performance, the NDP only produced a local candidate on Tuesday.
That’s about a week after the official start of campaigning season.
The Rhino Party — yes, the joke party — put forth a candidate for the Sea to Sky before the NDP. The party suggesting that they would “replace teachers on leave with photos of famous scientists” have had their act together better than the self-proclaimed voice of labour.
For any of the parties, I have yet to witness any door-knocking here in town, and it wouldn’t surprise me if half the population was completely unaware that an election was about to happen.
This is quite disappointing.
I think it’s safe to say that on the local level, electoral engagement has been quite dismal.
On the national level, the song remains the same.
Many people were completely unaware that a debate between the frontrunners in the election took place last Thursday.
But that’s not all.
Those who were watching would realize something was missing from that event.
Or, perhaps, better said — someone.
In this case, that was Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
You could argue that Elizabeth May might’ve communicated the feeling of those in the audience well when she walked across the empty podium and mockingly shook the hand of an invisible Trudeau.
Yes, about a month away from election time and one of the top contenders can’t even be bothered to show up.
All of this gives me flashbacks to my childhood.
At five years old, I regularly started my morning by burying my head in my pillow and hoping that school would already be over.
My mom would flick the lights on and tear me away from the sheets with whatever force was necessary to get me out of bed.
After enough struggle, I got myself dressed — with great resentment.
Then, afterwards, I would ever-so-slowly put my shoes and jacket on, complaining all the while about going to school.
That’s us this federal election.
