Why you should fucking vote and not be a lazy asshole.

I was born in Taiwan in October of 1983. When I was born, my parents had no idea of what it was to live under a democratic state. You see, Taiwan, while broken off from the People's Republic of China and communist rule since the civil war in 1949, was a non-democratic state with the Kuomingtang party ruling under martial law. My parents never voted when they lived there and their parents never voted either since moving from the mainland to the tiny island in the Pacific.

When my family arrived here in Canada in 1989, Brian Mulroney had just won another majority in December, so politics was far from their mind. It wasn't until 1993, when we became citizens, that my parents had to even concern themselves with voting - the timing was perfect, it was time for an election. From what I can remember from this time period, my mom was more excited about an election than my dad was. My dad never adjusted all that well to Canada, and wasn't interested in immersing himself in the culture. My mom on the other hand was determined to integrate and to make sure her children did as well. I remember one day at the mall she spent about 20 minutes talking to the local Liberal candidate while I was being an annoying twat asking her why we were talking to this strange man. She gave me one of those glares that this was something important and that if I didn't shut up, I'd be sorry later.

This was the first time I saw her buy newspapers everyday and read them when she came home from work at night. She would call her few friends in Toronto to talk about the elections and who she should vote for. In the end, her mind was pretty much made up because my grandfather and grandmother told her to vote Liberal. The Liberals, they said, were the party that welcomed immigrants (very true during that decade) and our family needed to repay that open arms policy with our votes.

I even remember when she voted that January of '94, she walked me to school, which happened to be our local polling station, and stayed with her to watch her vote. She registered, she went to the booth and told me that this was very important. I asked her, why can't I do the same thing she was doing. She said, when you're 18, you can.

I didn't realize it at the time, probably because my main concern was what fruit roll up colour did I get for my lunch snack that day, of how important it was to her to go and vote. It was the first time in her 38 years on the planet that she was able to go to the polls and make her voice heard. When she lived in Taiwan, she and her family never had the opportunity to have a say - they were told what to do by the government. I even remember her telling me that when I'm 18, I should vote Liberal too. (Sorry mom, that's one piece of advice I don't think I'll be taking anytime soon.)

Her experience is like many other immigrant experiences - coming to this country and embracing the privilage and right to vote, something that a large segment of our population has shunned for no good reason.

Sure - people point to the fact that we've had four elections in the last seven years. People are tired of voting. Well, had an additional 10 - 15% of people gone to the polls in the last election, we might have had a majority government, which would have prevented us from having to return to the polls before the four year term limit expired.

Sure - people point to the fact that we have uninspiring leaders. With the exception of the US, I doubt other leaders from countries around the world are more exciting than our Harper, Ignatieff, Layton lineup. In fact, I am pretty sure Gordon Brown of Britain was less popular than Harper, something most non-Conservatives here in Canada couldn't possibly imagine.

Sure - people point to the fact that the parties all say the same things election after election. Well, it's the same reason as point number one - our voices and votes make them change what they focus on. It happened before when the country booted the Conservatives over terrible handling of the 90s recession, it happened again in 2006 when the Liberals were turfed over sponsorship. The parties will only change their ways when they get fired - which we have the power to do so.

I can't even begin to tell you how angry I get when I hear people complain about how politics is too hard to follow and how they are too lazy to get educated on the issues. Not to be overly dramatic, but people have and are dying around the world to be able to obtain the right to choose their governments. People die around the world everyday, never being able to experience the freedom of casting a vote.

Not to mention, we have our brave men and women of the Canadian military who risk their lives to defend our country so that we have a right to vote. Everytime you choose to wave your right, think of it as a massive dishonour for those who parished in WW1, WW2 and other conflicts to prevent dictatorships from spreading.

Finally, you're doing yourself, your family and your community a great disservice by waving your right to vote. The policies that these federal parties are cooking up will impact your taxes, your health care, the funding your community receives on infrastructure and so many other areas of our lives. You'd be a fool not to say which one you feel will make your life easier in the next four years.

Media and Poll researchers are already predicting low voter turnout as voter apathy hits an all-time high. In fact, I watched a local news channel interviewing people on the street and some baffoon (in her lulus and ugg shoes) didn't even know there was an election going on. Can we parachute her into Libya and make her realize the privilages she's throwing away by being an ignorant constituent? And don't even get me started on how many women's suffrage leaders would be spinning in their graves if they heard her statement - why did they fight so hard for you to get the vote then?

What's worse about someone not voting is that they complain about the government after an election. I think those that don't vote should have a massive wad of duct tape slap them on their mouth when they complain about government. You don't get to voice your opinions after the fact if you didn't make an effort to vote. Frankly, I don't want to hear it.

Like in all elections, there's still a large majority of undecided voters that could make all the difference between a majority or minority Conservative or Liberal government. If you're sick of how Canadian politicians have been behaving, cast a ballot. Give someone a mandate so that we don't have these minority government political shinanigans from all parties.

Going back to my anecdote, I can't even imagine how it must have felt for my mom to vote that cold day in 1994. The amount of pride she must have had to let the government know how she felt just by marking an X on her ballot must have been incredibly empowering. Since that election until her death, she voted in every municipal, provincial and federal election.

I remember my first vote was in the 2003 Ontario Provincial Elections. While not as exciting as a federal election vote, I still felt great pride in being able to walk up, get my ballot and make a difference. My first federal vote was in 2004, when the Liberals under Paul Martin, won the first of many minority governments.

With that said, I can't wait to cast my ballot this time around on May 2. And to you I say - educate yourself and fucking vote - don't be an asshole.