A Vote Against

 

Today was a vote for what I didn't want. 

I was grateful for the long walk to the voting station because my mind was racing. Even as I approached the booth, I still hadn’t decided where to place my coveted ‘X.’ 

Like many things recently, I feel politically adrift. 

I grew up surrounded by conservatives. 

In university, after reading and researching history, I moved to the left. 

But in the past decade, I’ve watched politics shift toward extremes on both sides. Now, I find myself floating in the center, where both camps seem to be screaming that I need to pick a side. I believe in progress, equity, acceptance, equality, and liberty, but I often feel the criticism from the left that I’m not progressive enough or accepting of everything a good soldier should be. 

I knew what party I didn’t want. As a journalist, I sat down with Doug Ford almost 14 years ago, and that interview only reaffirmed my belief that he shouldn’t hold a position of power. He reeked of a lifetime grifter and salesman. In recent years, I’ve become even more disillusioned by the growing trend of pandering to the alt-right, the religious right, and the DudeBros. 

I also grow frustrated with how misinformed political discourse has become. Many blame Trudeau for issues like healthcare, education, property, and civil rights, even though these are provincial matters. Meanwhile, politics have become so tribalistic that party loyalty seems to matter more than actual results. 

A growing monster looms over the globe, making society feel less inviting and optimistic. Authoritarianism is creeping in, and I worry that our voices are being drowned out. I cast my vote without excitement rather as an answer to the gnawing fear that the thing I desperately don’t want will come to pass. For the second time in less than a year, I expect to wake up to an election result that disappoints me. But maybe my fellow Ontarians will prove me wrong. 

Even when we vote without enthusiasm, we still have a voice. We still have power. And we must use it.