I voted today.
I haven’t always had the privilege of doing so. It was 82 years of political activism that made it possible for me to vote in the first democratic elections in South Africa in 1994.
Every time I vote, I remember what it took for me, a woman, not-white, to have the freedom of exercising my right to vote.
And this is why I struggle to understand people who say that they don’t vote because they’re “not into politics”. Can’t they see that it’s political decisions that lead to legislation shaping our daily lives, from the most intimate (who we can marry) to the most mundane (who removes household garbage on our streets).
Once you see how much politics is present in your life, you cannot unsee it.
The mattress I slept on last night could only be sold in Canada because it had to conform with safety standards set by legislation. The water I used to brush my teeth is also safe because legislation ensured there was an infrastructure to be able to deliver drinkable water to my bathroom tap. Similarly, the home I live in had to conform to legislated building safety standards. The rules that make it safe to drive on roads is the result of legislation. The car insurance I pay is enshrined in legislation. My right to be safe at work is backed by legislation.
And, as a teacher, I am deeply aware of the fact that a public education system paid for by citizens through their taxes is the result of a fierce political fight that has been ongoing for the past two centuries, including during this election.
Politicians have made decisions that have generated legislation about all aspects of being human in society: birth, death, marriage, divorce. Human rights.
Voting is a way of giving feedback on those decisions.
And how fortunate are we to have the opportunity to give feedback to politicians when there are billions of people who cannot safely do so, who do not yet have what we already do: the right to influence the decisions that shape our lives.
I voted for members of my community today.
I voted for parents of children in overcrowded schools and education workers in those schools who worry about Rustad’s plans to increase class sizes in response to a lack of space in schools.
I voted for teachers’ professional autonomy and the freedom to read because I’ve been watching what’s been happening in the United States when books are banned by school boards. I see a Republican-coloured red flag in Rustad’s comments about reviewing all textbooks in school.
I voted to protect the miniscule progress that has been made on the pathway to reconciliation because Indigenous peoples are concerned that a Rustad government would repeal the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples passed by the provincial Legislature in November 2019.
I voted to defend the human rights of 2SLGBTQIA+ folk who navigate minefields of discrimination daily. As a witness to the hate that was on display during the 18-hour siege of the STA office on September 20, 2023, I’m afraid of that hate being channeled into legislation that would give licence to cruelty.
I voted in support of efforts to mitigate the impacts of climate change that have already shown up here in the form of historic flooding, unprecedented wildfires, and the first deadly heat dome. I am mortified about the possibility of having a premier who does not believe that burning fossil fuels causes climate change and that school textbooks mention environmentalism too often.
This is what being “into” politics is about.
Because so much is at stake in this election, I urge you to get “into” politics and to vote today.
Moving Paradigms 