In response to MLA Norm Macdonald’s suggestion and the NDP’s suggestion for greater voter turnout, I would like to add a possibly more impactful set of proposals to result in greater voter turn out of the general population, rather than such a smallish group as just the youth.

Maybe we as a society should try this:

• If you exist and breath, you get a vote.

• If you prove you have graduated from high school, you get another vote.

• If you prove you have higher education from trade school, university or arts college, you get another vote.

• If you prove you have experienced, say 60 years of life, you get another vote.

Reward those that have improved themselves and proven they have the putz to persevere and learn, and hence make better decisions. By all means, keep the one-person-one-vote concept but as I suggest, reward those that know.

Maybe we could also have one’s ability to vote tied to their social insurance number. Vote in a federal, provincial, or municipal election and by proving you have voted, you get rewarded with a credit on your next federal or provincial tax submission. If you don’t vote, you don’t get the reward.

Or, if you don’t vote, you get a penalty tied to your social insurance number and your tax obligation.   In other words, use both the carrot and the stick scenario.

That, Mr. Macdonald, might be a more effective way of getting the general population to participate in something as systemic as our democratic principles of the western world.

 

 

David Pacey

Radium Hot Springs