My first vote was cast in Sackville, N.B., in the federal election of 1980. That election was called on short notice, and I turned 18 during the campaign, so it took some special measures to get people like me on the voting list. (I remember a Ben Wicks cartoon from that campaign where a guy sitting in front of the TV with a can of beer answers the phone and says, "Sure, I'll vote for you! Who are you?" I suppose I should feel sorry for him, yet he seems happy.)
My voting precinct was in the town's Catholic church. I read somewhere that North American Catholics like to build churches on the highest hill in town, and this one is at a high elevation. It was in the safe Liberal riding of Westmorland-Kent, but I voted for the N.D.P. candidate. (I think he was the head chef at the university's dining facilities.)
I now live in the Toronto riding of St. Paul's. I'm a faithful N.D.P. voter, and in recent years I've done volunteer work on local N.D.P. campaigns. (I also worked for Olivia Chow's mayoral campaign.) But if I lived in Elizabeth May's riding, I'd vote Green for her. I'd like to see an electoral alliance between the Liberals and N.D.P. and Greens to defeat the Conservatives, followed by introducing proportional representation so there'd be no need to repeat the alliance.
Non-partisan appeals urging people to vote have always struck me as lame. If they don't care, they don't. But I personally would never fail to voter. One person's vote may not mean much, but there's always the chance that it'll make some difference. What I find depressing is people who actually have a candidate they prefer, but just don't feel motivated enough to go to the trouble of voting for him.
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