Remember when I said I was going to write more? I used to be good at this.

I’m leaning into my old column writing days with this one, so buckle up.

It’s officially election season in Canada. Federal election, even. And with the implosion of the democracy to the south of us, it’s more important than ever to actually be an engaged citizen.

My riding is a Conservative stronghold. It has been held by Progressive Conservative/Reform/Canadian Alliance/And-back-to-Conservative-again since 1972. That’s not going to change, I’ve accepted that.

But that doesn’t mean I’m going to cast my vote for the conservative incumbant.

He does not represent my values or my ideals or anything else I care about. He only seems to care about guns and conversion therapy. His party will hurt people I care about. So I will not be voting for him. I will vote, but it will not be for him.

Some might ask, well then why vote at all? if you know your vote isn’t going to do anything, why bother?

Oh the privilege in those questions.

We are on the precipice of the most drastic global shift if the last century. I’m astounded I’m alive to see it happen in real time. The world’s dominate superpower is folding like a cheap suit into oligarchy, and as their neighbour to the north it is going to impact us directly. It already is. The Fall of the American Empire is happening right now, and we all get to witness it.

(Lucky us, she said sarcastically.)

We’ll see if 47 manages to enact his trade war; he seems to flip flop every time he sets a deadline for the tariffs to kick in. I’m not relying on the US to actually do anything about their descent into fascism, all I can do is plead with my fellow Canadians to not follow in their footsteps.

See, in most eras, the fact that a federal party leader refusing to get security clearance would be enough to eliminate him as even a possibility for Prime Minister. But this is not a bygone era, and disinformation runs rampant, so here we stand. A leader who, according to our intelligence agency, only got the role of party leader thanks to foreign interference, is about neck-in-neck with other likely candidate for PM. One who has essentially lived off the government for the last two decades as a career politician who has never worked a regular job.

Unbelievable.

Once upon a time I would have never seen myself thinking, ‘why yes, I’d like that former banker to lead our country’ but again, this is here and now and this is our reality. The Liberal leader is endearing himself to voters by making videos evoking Canadian patriotism with Mike Meyers for god’s sake. And somehow, it actually comes across as genuine? Or at least, not disingenuous?

I’m a little tired of hearing how much the other guys suck. All of you kinda suck, just tell me what you’re going to do for Canada that doesn’t suck. How are you going to move forward with Truth and Reconciliation? What are you going to do to protect trans kids? How are you going to start fixing the housing crisis? The opioid crisis? The very threat to our sovereignty?

Don’t tell me how the other guy(s) are going to tear it down; tell me how you’re going to build it back up.

In another life I’d written the following words many many times: You need to vote. It is an inalienable right we have as a democratic nation. People around the world die for the opportunity.

Voting for a Conservative majority or even minority is asking for fascism. Not voting is asking for fascism. Spoiling your ballot is asking for fascism.

The only way to say no to fascism, right now, is to not vote Conservative.

I know this sounds like hyperbole. I know it sounds like catastrophizing. But the US electorate didn’t take the looming threat and warnings seriously and look what’s happened.

University students are being taken and deported. People are being taken and sold to slave labour camps in El Salvador. Social Security and Medicare are about to be axed. They’re trying to shut down the Department of Education. Some ketamine-riddled dumbass has all their private information. The lunatics are literally running the asylum. Some of the stupidest people on Earth now have access to the scariest weapons on Earth and throw a hissy fit if you don’t kiss their asses. They want to annex us and take everything we have and destroy everything we hold dear.

And certain Canadian politicians will roll over and let it happen.

Don’t let them.

Election Day is April 28.

Do NOT fuck this up, Canada.

-A.