The media have been ablaze this weekend, again, with election speculation. As sure as snow in January, the pundits trot out the refrain, “Canadians don’t want a summer election“. Duh? Well I guess if every newspaper and tv reporter tells Canadians their friends and neighbours don’t want an election, they think it’s so and nod concurrence. But really, how does a summer election hamper Canadians enjoyment of their summer?
OK, if you are one of a few hundred political staffers who will may have your vacation plans delayed, then maybe you have reason to complain. Same if you are a reporter who will be assigned to cover the campaign, but at least the latter can look forward to an extended holiday with the overtime accumulated flying hither and yon to file stories that were all scripted in Ottawa party bunkers. If you are a student looking for summer work, or one of hundreds of thousands of the unemployed, a few weeks part-time work for Elections Canada could be a heartfelt bonus.
I wish I could say Canadian voters spend hours informing themselves of the nuances of party platforms and candidates’ qualifications. The truth is more likely that they have already made their choice, that they fall into the vast collective of non-voters, or that their decision will be a split second thing during a tv debate or, more likely, while reading/listening to a reporter tell them who won said debate.
Voting seldom takes more than 15 minutes and Canadians can pretty much choose when they want to vote over a 2 week period. How taking those 15 minutes to exercise the most fundamental of our civic rights can be said to ruin a summer defies logic and boggles my mind. But repeating a bogus mantra sure beats getting out, doing some research and writing real news. That, of course, could ruin a reporter’s weekend.
