As you may have heard, there's a provincial election tomorrow.
For most people, it’s been a blur of campaign ads over the past month or so, in one of the shortest election periods I can remember.
As the editor of an online news site, I’m a bit more versed in politics than many, and certainly more than I’d like to be. My natural inclination is to get on with daily life in the community, writing about the people, businesses and organizations who keep things running on the ground. But of course, we are all impacted when city hall, for example, tells us we need to cough up another chunk of our pay cheque for property taxes, or when the province wants to sell off parts of the Greenbelt for development.
Now, I’m not here to tell you which MPP candidate deserves your vote. Most publications where I’ve worked mandated that we endorse someone, which is their prerogative. But I feel what goes on in the voting booth is a personal decision, and I’ve always considered the sanctity of the private ballot to be one of the best things about democracy.
I’m also not going to tell you how to make your decision. Maybe you’re stirred up about protecting farmland or putting the candidate into office who will finally solve the homelessness issue. Maybe you felt a real connection with one of the candidates who came knocking at your door. Maybe not.
I do urge everyone to take a few minutes to find out what’s at stake for Ontario, and consider who they want representing them during one of the most volatile periods we are likely to face in our lifetime.
If it sounds dramatic, well, it is. Like never before, our political leaders must be ready to face a mountain of issues, each as dire as the next. Truly, we are at a crisis point in many ways, from the threat of crippling U.S. tariffs and an unprecedented gap between income and housing affordability to planning infrastructure to accommodate explosive growth and protecting our environment and resources. And the list goes on.
So far, though, voters have been less than moved. Turnout for last weekend’s three-day advance polls saw 678,789 voters across the province cast their ballots. That’s 6.14 per cent of eligible voters, marking a significant drop from the 9.92 per cent (1,066,545) who voted in the 2022 advance polls.
In Flamborough-Glanbrook, the numbers are slightly better, but still meagre. Local advance polls ran Feb. 20-22, with 7,919 residents casting their vote, or 7.91 per cent of eligible voters.
Working alongside the fantastic team at The Trillium and outlets across Village Media, reporter Cara and I have amassed as much information as possible in a short amount of time to help you decide. We’ve written about local issues and provided candidate profiles, and posted articles on where and how to vote. And they're all in an easy-to-find, centralized tab on FlamboroughToday, just waiting to be read.
Now it’s up to you. Please, exercise your right.
