I have to admit I was feeling rather discouraged the other day when I read this CBC report in which an EKOS Research poll found that only 27 percent of respondents were familiar with the 'Fair' Elections Act. Then I read Montreal Simon's post this morning and felt a little better.
Here is the short video he posted that beautifully and very succinctly shows why voting is so important. Enjoy and send it to whomever you think might benefit:
hi Lorne...thanks for linking to that post. I'm glad I helped cheer you up because despite that poll result we do have a lot to be thankful about, as well as the blessed arrival of Spring ;) What I take from that poll is that the more people understand what the Cons are trying to do, the more they hate it. So it's just a question of educating them. And what I like about that video is that its message is purely visual so you can ask young people to interpret the message for themselves. And then ask the questions I ask in the post:
ReplyDelete(1) Why do you think the Cons don't want Elections Canada to make those ads?
(2) Why do you think they don't want you to vote?
As you must know better than I do, having been a teacher, it's best to present young people with a situation and let them learn by figuring it out themselves. Because if an older person tells them something it can go in one ear and out the other. At least that's how I used to think when I was their age. Ahem. And of course that's better than my other tactic that I only try on my friends. Which is to grab them by an ear, and say listen you little sod you will vote or ELSE !#@!!!!
You are absolutely right about the key to effective teaching, Simon. Although it is not always possible, it is far better to be the 'guide at the side' than the 'sage upon the stage.'
DeletePart of the frustration of getting older is the wider context with which one can see things, coupled with the awareness that experience, by its very nature, cannot simply be relayed to others, but has to be acquired.
Hi Lorne it's me again. I forgot to mention the great irony. That ad was made by Elections Canada for the 2008 election, but the newly appointed Chief Electoral Officer, Marc Mayrand, refused to run it. I guess he didn't want to upset Lord Harper. So how did that work out? ;)
ReplyDeleteThanks, Simon. I did not know that, but I guess it serves as an object lesson about the price entailed by timidity.
Delete.. when I come across opinion pieces like this.. i realize I am reading the ideas and concerns of a real Canadian.. here you go, Lorne & Simon
ReplyDeletehttp://www.orilliapacket.com/2014/04/11/c-23-a-threat-to-democracy
That is a powerful indictment, Salamander. Received with thanks.
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