"There was either general apathy toward the candidates or a degree of voter fatigue as this was the third Canadian election since 2004," said Antonia Maioni, director of the McGill Institute for the Study of Canada.
I'm not a statistician, nor do I have a degree, but my feeling is that the issue here is a little more towards Column A. With more than half of Canadians being over the age of 35, I would be willing to put my chips on which age group didn't vote.
When I cast my ballot, I took a look at those around me, which made me shockingly young at the age of 30. The majority of those I saw were old enough to have been a part of, or experienced the effects of WWII. The people whose families, friends, and relatives fought to protect our freedoms and democracy are the ones who are continuing to vote. Meanwhile, we have a generation of voters who have become apathetic towards the entire process.
The idea behind democracy is that we, the people, all have a say in who leads us and what ideals it is we as a nation would like to pursue. In this day and age, however, the younger generations feel as though our wants and wishes don't really matter to our politicians. There's nothing that really engages them in a way that makes them feel like their voices are being heard. Democracy only works when ideas are exchanged, and the people are included in the actual decision processes of our country.
It's easy to understand where the apathy comes from. Between the ideas that all politicians are liars and that no matter who you vote for, nothing really changes, it could be rather difficult to motivate yourself to go to the polls. I voted because I felt it was my responsibility as a Canadian to do so, knowing that thousands of people died protecting these ideals. However, not everyone of my ilk or younger will ever understand that. Obviously there's a problem in our system of politics and unless we can nail down the problem and find it's solution, I fear Canada may one day move towards a totalitarian state.
