One Girl, One Vote

While I am grateful to live in a country where everyday citizens have the freedom to vote for the leaders whose policies align with their own, and where we collectively decide who we trust to drive the bus for the next few years, man, it takes a great deal of work to form an opinion!

British Columbians will be voting for their municipal leaders tomorrow, but wait, the fun continues when we all head to the polls again NEXT Saturday to vote in a Provincial General Election.

For those who think I’m being a baby about this, just know that for our Municipal Election, there are 127 people on the ballot scrambling for 27 spots in 4 categories.  Plus, they’ve added 5 plebiscite questions to the ballot for us to have researched and/or formed an opinion about by the time we get there.  We’ll be in the voting booth for hours!  I’m taking a sandwich!  Luckily, there are only 5 names on the ballot (for my area) for the Provincial Election next week, so that will feel positively streamlined.

British Columbians have really gotten into voting over the last several elections, having seen The Example of what not bothering to vote leaves you with.  In fact, the pre-election reports show a 60% increase in the number of people who have already taken advantage of the advanced voting opportunities ahead of tomorrow’s election day in the city of Vancouver alone.

The first ever Canadian election took place in 1867 and was set up to sort out who was going to be sitting in the House of Commons, since everyone had already agreed that John A MacDonald could be the first Prime Minister.  We weren’t able to establish our own laws pertaining to how we wanted to go about voting (which, of course, we voted on) until 1884, so our system was patterned after the one Britain used.

Voting in that first Federal Election lasted for 6 weeks, as each area was instructed that while they all had to vote on the same day, which day wasn’t specified.  One spot in Quebec had a riot instead and their opportunity to seat someone in the House had to wait for a couple more years until everyone had cooled off.  At the time, the only voters eligible to participate in Canadian elections were male British subjects (read: white) over the age of 21 and who owned property.

The group of guys who won that first election in Canada only met up 5 times during their term in order to do whatever it was that the House of Commons did back in those days.  By the time Canada had its second Federal Election 5 years later, the country had grown to include 2 more provinces and the Northwest Territories.

Provinces were given the right to vote for their local government in 1898.  By then someone had obviously noticed that due to the sheer vastness of the country, the rules for one province could in no way work effectively for another.

By 1918, the right to vote was finally given to women over 18.  Immediately, Mary Ellen Smith, the recently widowed wife of a politician and miner (the same guy–not two separate guys) in Vancouver, stood for election and became the first woman elected to the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia–a spot vacated by her husband’s passing.  She won handily, and went on to introduce minimum wages for women, worked to secure the right for women to sit as judges, framed up laws for the creation of a juvenile court system, formulated the first laws to protect women in the workplace, and eventually created Mothers’ Allowance to financially support women with a child under the age of 16. Unfortunately, her advocacy for the disenfranchised did not extend to anyone outside of European heritage and she missed valuable opportunities to really make a difference in the lives of the Indigenous and Asian populations, which would become so important to the West Coast.

In 1921, Mary Ellen was appointed the role of a Cabinet Minister – without a portfolio.  She was the first woman in all of the British Empire to hold this high level position. However, she stepped down after 8 months because without a portfolio, she didn’t feel like she was being all that effective.  She was re-elected in the next election and went on to become the Acting Speaker of the House for a brief stint in 1928, making her the first female in that capacity in the Empire.

Thanks to the democratic system that was started in this country 159 years ago, I am able to decide for myself where I stand on the issues that are being waved around, as well as the ones that are being pushed out of the spotlight, and to support the people who I think will honour my best interests.

Or, I can talk myself into believing that my votes don’t matter, leaving all of my decisions for someone else to make.  And then live with the consequences. It’s my choice.

Here in BC, as long as you are 18 years of age, a citizen of Canada, have lived in the province for at least 6 months, and you are registered as a voter (which can be done at the polling station with the correct ID), you’re ready to cast a vote!  With the polls being open for 12 hours tomorrow for the Municipal Election, you’ll have plenty of time to wade through the crowd of candidates and pick out which ones most align with your own convictions.

Mind you, the same democracy that allows me the chance to make up my own mind and to act on those decisions, also democratically allows for the noisy clutter of election signs on front lawns and an almost constant barrage of unknown callers ringing my number all day long to question my opinions or to give me theirs.  And that is beginning to drive me CRAZY!!!!

I have to hang in for a few more days, cast my votes, and then I’ll just sit back and wait for Great Things to come out of the people that I have had a hand in electing.  Saints preserve us!