The post below appeared in the South Bayview Bulldog before the 2014 provincial election. It still applies: You may be certain that democracy’s great reformers, every single one of them from Lord Grey (Reform Act 1832) to Canadian rebel democrat William Lyon Mackenzie (Upper Canada Rebellion) would snort in derision at the idea that voters might actually go to the polls and elaborately refuse to cast their ballots. Only this cosseted and self-involved society could conceive of an idea so stupid, so arrogant. It’s the idea that those who are “unconvinced and unimpressed” should vote “none of the above.” Really. This option raises fecklessness to a new level. Democracy isn’t about liking the people who are running or getting your issues all fulfilled on a platter. It isn’t about sulking because the political process isn’t neat. People died to create the democratic way. Stalin and Hitler laughed at “none of the above.” Are you stamping your feet about the gas plants? Pouting because that silly Tim Hudak can’t count? Well suck it up baby. Get busy and meet the candidates. Maybe you want to vote for a one-issue candidate. Fine. That can be your protest. After the election, you’ll have the right to complain. “None of the above” is the first turn on the road to Hell.
