Canada. And stuff.

I know this is my Korea blog and these events don't affect my Korean experience, but they happened while I was in Korea so they count. *ahem* I swear. Sorry.

I moved to Canada from Jamaica 9 years ago, when I was 15 years old.  About 4 years later, I became a citizen. In order to do this, however, I (my parents) had to pay some money, give proof I'd been in the country long enough, and take a test (I actually had to do this part). That's right. In order to be considered a citizen of Canada, to hold any job in Canada, to hold a Canadian passport, I had to prove that I knew enough about the following:

• Canada's laws,
• The rights and responsibilities of a Canadian citizen,
• A chunk of Canadian history, and
• The words to the national anthem (duh).

There may have been more, but those categories pretty much cover it all. Now... recently (3 or 4 days ago depending on your timezone), Canada had a Federal election. And.... Canadians voted in ... well... let's just say I'm worried about the next 4 years of Canada's future. Without getting into all of THAT, I was surprised to discover that 58% of Canadians DID NOT EVEN VOTE. That really shocked me. A friend of mine said it's because he didn't believe any of the parties to be worth his vote and he didn't believe in choosing the lesser of two evils...... but I'm really sorry buddy, I don't quite buy it (still love you though!). 

We all choose the lesser of two evils every day. For example: "Do I get up and go to a job I hate? Or do I quit and be broke?" Or..... "Do I take the poorly serviced, ever-increasingly priced TTC (Toronto's public transit system) to said job, or do I pay out the nose for gas and parking so I can drive? OR! Do I risk my life on the mean streets of Toronto and ride my bike?" Or.... "Do I live in this really dingy, tiny apartment in a shady neighbourhood cuz it's all I can afford or do I live at home with my overbearing parents?" (JUUUUST an example people.) If you think about it, we make strategic compromises every day. And I want people to think about the following 4 things:

1. We vote because we want someone to win. Everyone knows this, BUT
2. We ALSO vote because we want someone ELSE to LOSE. And I think a lot of people forgot this part. Plus
3. I find it hard to believe that NOT ONE of parties' platforms included some proposals that any one could find worthwhile. I find that REALLY hard to believe. Oh and
4. It is our right, yes, but also our RESPONSIBILITY to vote. Yes. That's what I said.

In the days following, many of my peers flooded the FB news feed with their dismay (and in a few cases joy) at the results of this election. On one friend's post someone felt the need to say, "Fuck the conservatives. Oh screw the liberals too." then in a follow-up post, said, "I hate politics. I don't care and won't be voting for anybody certainly not harper and not that carpetbagger ignatiaf or whatever his name is" ..............................

Now, if you don't care, why would you say "F*** the conservatives. Oh screw the liberals too"? Clearly you care a little bit. And if you have a problem with those two parties, why not be active about it and vote for one of the other parties running? There were other parties you know. In fact there was one that did way better than the Liberals. Do you know who they are?  

This guy doesn't really know how to debate so he took a few personal shots at me based on assumptions, which were both wrong. One of the things I said was, "It's your right *and your responsibility* to vote. As someone who had to take a test to become a Canadian citizen, it seems I know this more than most Canadians who were born here." Now, of course when I said this, he didn't like it. So his response was as follows:

"ok I have a copy the Candaian charter of human rights and freedoms. its a bit dated but I have read it several times and your last statment is your interpretation of part 3 which reads. Every citizen of Canada has the right to vote in an election of membes of the house of commons or of legislative assemble and to be qualified for membershiop therein. Show me where its says "responsibility". Also part says (a) Freesom fromscience and religion (b) freddom of thought belief, opinion, and expression, including freedom of the press (c) freesom of peacefull assembly; and (d) freedom of association Prehaps you just moved to Canada and don't understand this document fully yet I've been a Canadian for 33 years and I'm well aware of my rights as a canadian citizen and I'm very gratefull for part 2 letter (d) perhaps your would like to take that part out or twist it some other meaning and have people line-up like cattle to vote for a person they don't even know."

Why you would expect to see anything about responsibilities in a Charter of Rights and Freedoms is beyond me. But what exactly do you intend to insinuate by the whole 'maybe you just moved here but I've been here 33 years' bullshit? What I said was, "... I wouldn't really expect to see anything about responsibilities on a charter of rights and freedoms, but anyway. Here's my proof. Google "Rights and responsibilities of a Canadian citizen" and you'll find a lot of links that say voting is a responsibility.... I've copied one such link below... but maybe they only say this to immigrants? http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/pdf/pub/discover.pdf Page 9."

Immediately following my comment, the friend whose post we were serial-commenting on said, "...I can point out though that the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, as stated in Section 32, is only applicable to government and not to individuals. The Charter doesn't apply to individuals." (emphasis mine)

So... yeah... your 33 years of living in Canada has, apparently, ill-equipped you for truly knowing your rights and responsibilities as a citizen. But, you know, thanks for jockin'.

For everyone else (i.e. the people actually reading this). Please consider that as a citizen, it really is your responsibility to vote. I encourage you to educate yourself on the parties' platforms and choose the one that is the closest to what you would envision for your ideal government, even if you don't fully agree with them. Why? Because when you simply don't vote....... Well.... this happens:

The man who hates anyone who isn't a rich White male... or a kitten...

And to think... we could have had this:

Trekkies are 100% trustworthy. It's a fact.

**Having said all of the above. I don't even know how to vote in Jamaica and, clearly, never have. So maybe I should get down off my soapbox now..... but it proves my point about the taking-a-test/immigrant thing, don't you think?**