Dear Editor,
In close to a week or so, we'll be at the middle point of the Federal election campaign.
Other than the Duffy trial, I wonder if there has been any information sufficiently important enough, one way or the other, that has altered the minds of the electorate quite differently from the last time we voted for a federal MP.
My news comes primarily from online news sources or the radio and occasionally a newspaper. TV news is not an option in our house.
From what I've heard though, what happens on TV is the main source of election campaign information for the majority of Canadians. It is also the primary source, I've heard, from which people make their electoral decisions.
Much of the big money goes into making political ads, to prompt people to vote one way or the other. An interesting statistic, I've heard, is that somewhere between 20 or 30 per cent of people are political hounds who keep up with political news in a serious way, perhaps daily. The rest of the electorate uses the TV persona of the leader or candidate as a primary source from which they make their political decisions.
Whatever the reasons from the different sources of election information, understanding this stuff is important. If you want to buy a car, for instance, you likely won't rely exclusively on a glitzy TV ad. You might actually go to the dealership, talk to a sales representative and get specific information. The car you buy, you want to keep for a while. You might even want to scan consumer reports to get an idea of the pedigree of the model you're interested in. It's a decision you want to think about for a while. There'll be thousands of dollars tied up in your purchase, something you worked for a while to gain.
Except that this car, the metaphor for the political vehicle of your choice, has to accommodate as many people as possible since all of us citizens have a right and duty to participate.
That's the tough part of this decision. You'll vote for yourself but hopefully you'll think of others as well.
George Jason