While I hate this budget, a holiday election would’ve been bad. So many immigrant citizens fly off to their birth country for the holidays to see their families. They wouldn’t have been able to vote. Even by anticipation since they usually take a couple of weeks of vacation during that time.
This comment itself speaks volumes about how people perceive their right to vote. I’m going to make another assumption that these people who go on vacation likely also moan about how the government ‘isn’t working for them’ and how they’re being ‘taxed unfairly’ so their vote ‘wouldn’t matter’. Voting is the most basic, minimal civic duty that comes around once in a while in a democratic style society.
Pandering to the idea of ‘because it’s holiday time’ isn’t a valid reason - its a scapegoat excuse. The real reason that this budget passed the way it did is because the current way MP’s campaign require loads of money (a problem in itself), and a good number of them have nothing to show for it while party coffers are looking really empty.
I’m talking about people who are immigrants who plan several weeks off at the end of the year every year during the holidays to go visit family and relatives in their home countries. These trips are planned months ahead and are costly with plane tickets prices skyrocketing during that peak travel period.
What do you expect? You expect them to drop their several thousand dollar trip to go see their family that they probably only see once a year, during the holidays?
And as someone else mentioned, early voting or mail-in ballot might not even be a solution as they might leave even before early voting begins or they might not even have a steady address to receive their ballot, which could arrive late due to postal service strikes, how long it takes to get to the destination in the foreign country or the reliability of the postal service over there.
You’re being a little too idealistic. This is a huge sacrifice for these people. Have some sympathy.
I think we’re arguing over a subset of people who might not even be enough to move the needle unless it’s a very special riding with a specific type of immigrant make up. Early voting and mail-in ballots can 100% be done overseas and over online as long there is an embassy or trade office in said countries. How do I know? I’ve done it. Even without a steady address, you can vote literally at the embassy/office and they will mail it in for you which can bypass foreign country public postal services.
As for the postal service strikes, that’s another issue altogether.
It’s not idealistic - it’s called put some effort in making your vote count - or don’t. I mean look at the stats of voter turnout even on a regular schedule. Abysmal.
Well I didn’t know you could do that at any Canadian consulate office. I know here in Québec, for the French, it can get complicated. They don’t have offices everywhere and some have to drive a whole day just to get to the closest office.
Maybe anecdotally this worked well for you, but I doubt it might be as easy for someone from, say, Iran or Russia or some other contry where such offices don’t exist or are only in one location in the whole country.
I’m not saying it’s absolutely impossible, but I bet it is for many.
There is early voting and mail in ballots. There is always a way.
Early voting can sometimes not be early enough. Some people can have their trip planned several weeks ahead and leave and not have the chance to even vote early. And how are you going to receive the mail-in ballot if you’re moving from place to place in a foreign country? I have friends going to France who have to travel through several areas to meet all their relatives during the holidays. They can’t stay in one place and wait for the ballot to arrive god knows when. And with the postal service strike, it’s even more unreliable.
