Why Declining Your Vote Is A Shitty Idea

The interwebs of Ontario have been abuzz with articles informing you of your right to decline your vote during the upcoming provincial election. Facebook is full of it, people being amazed that they have this option and talking about how they're going to decline their vote.

I think that's a shitty thing to do. Maybe slightly better than not showing up to the polls at all, but still shitty.

There seems to be a popular opinion out there that declining your vote will change the system. We'll just get all these jerks out of power and pick somebody new, right? Wrong. Declining your vote means you're making a conscious decision not to vote. That's fine, but even if 99% of Ontarians declined their vote, the person and party with the most votes will still win. Yes, your declined votes get counted but that doesn't mean that if more people decline to vote than to actually vote, that we'll just be left with no leadership at all.

Declining your vote is just that, you are declining your right to vote. It is not a vote for "None of the Above" as some have read it to be, it's the same damn thing as not voting at all. If you don't vote, even fewer people will be ACTUALLY voting. That means an even smaller number of people will be choosing what kind of leadership we sit under.

So do me a favour, will ya? Take an hour an look at the platforms of all the parties and candidates in your riding. None of them will be perfect, no one is. But pick the one that suits you, your family and your hopes for our province the best. Then vote for them. They may not win, but at least you'll be making your vote count for something instead of just crossing your fingers and hoping that politicians hear your declined votes and change their ways. Picking any option is better than standing on a principle that has no legs.

I'm angry. You've been warned.

I got a note home yesterday, crumpled in the bottom of my 4 year old's backpack. This is what it says:

Dear Parents/Guardians,
Unfortunately, due to the current political situation, Room 4 will not be participating in Pizza Thursdays until further notice. Please pack a full lunch for your son/daughter on Thursdays.

I understand that Ontario teachers are fighting what they feel are grave injustices. Do I agree with them? Not so much. But in the end, they're fighting, as teachers are prone to do. I've seen teachers strike before, I've seen them threaten to strike many times and I've seen them pull back services in schools.

And then I had kids. Now it really matters.

Now I know that raising a ruckus over pizza day seems silly. It is! But for me, I'm looking at the root of the issue and what the school administrator's are doing about it.

I called the school and asked why pizza day was being cancelled. "I can't comment on that, you'll have to ask the teacher" I was told.

I explained to the administrator that my son felt left out because his older brother would still be getting pizza. I explained that I am very fortunate to have the opportunity to bring in pizza for my boy on Thursdays but I know that other parents aren't always able to do so.

I asked if a parent volunteer could come in and take care of the pizza dealings so the class could still have pizza. "I'm sorry, you'll have to ask the teacher permission, it's their decision."

Here's where I get angry. Our government has foolishly given teachers so much power that they are able to threaten to strike just about every year for just about any reason imaginable.

Our government has also apparently given the teachers complete control over their classrooms and whether or not a parent is allowed to come in and do the work that the teacher refuses to do???

This is not about pizza. This is about control. This is about teachers taking their issues out on the kids. If there is a club that a teacher normally runs each year but decides not to, no big deal. If a teacher decides to longer run the intramural league, although sad, is no big deal. But if the school is having the pizza, the entire school should have pizza. If the teachers don't want to serve pizza either let the parents come in and do it or have no pizza days. You can't shut it out of one class but not the others.

When will the Ontario government stop letting the teachers union run the whole damn show?

Ridiculous!

Everyone but the top executive seems to complain about cost of living increases. Many Ontario families live a day-to-day financial lifestyle and when we take a look at our own governmental resources, it's not hard to see why.

While some provinces have seen an exponential increase in wages between Nov. 2010 - Nov. 2011, Ontarians have seen on average, a 0.5% increase in wages. To make it clearer, a $25,000/year wage earner saw an increase of $1,250/year, or approximately $100/month. Considering how much our cost of gasoline has gone up since I got my first car in 1999 (about $0.55/litre), the wage increase covers about 1/2 of my gasoline costs for the month, and we bike/walk/take transit as much as we can.

Look deeper into the issue and what do we find? Some of our most necessary workers are the ones being hurt the most by poor wage increases in Ontario.

Health care and social assistance workers, public administration have been hit hard, earning less than 2% wage increases. These are the people that run our country. They're the nurses that you complain to when your wait time in the ER has been too long, they are the folks who accept payment for your utility bills and the folks who help the down and out find the right resources to get them back on their feet.

Shockingly, I'm not surprised at the lowest of the low on the no wage increase boat... hospitality workers. Since I have been one myself, I know that cooks and chefs, hotel desk clerks and the like have LONG been living below the national average. For cooks and chefs in particular, and not just restaurant chefs but also those who prepare* food in our hospitals, nursing homes and other care facilities, people who are constantly under the scrutiny of public health offices, people who are responsible for your safety and well-being in terms of the food you eat, are the most underpaid of all.

Does it surprise you that a cook, who has completed college, completed an apprenticeship and has received their Red Seal trade certification, in a top hotel chain may be making less than $14/hr? The cook in your favourite mass produced chain restaurant is quite likely making under $12/hr and the cook in the fine dining restaurant, the one where you pay upwards of $100 for a meal for two may only be making minimum wage? When I started in the restaurant industry I was (wisely, although I didn't know it yet) advised that "the finer the dining, the lower the pay". Whereas, the untrained food production worker in your local hospital or nursing home, often under union wages, is making $16-$22/hourly, where no skills are required*.

This isn't a rant on the poor wages of hospitality workers (although it could be), it's a rant about pay inequality across Ontario. Do teachers deserve more money? Quite possibly so. I know the work and support teachers give to my own children, I want to see them living in a comfortable zone. Since the average "secretary" is now an Administrative Assistant with numerous more responsibilities, he/she probably deserves more as well. The sad fact is, our government got so caught up in bringing a higher minimum wage to our province (which was an extremely good thing) that they forgot the most basic of our rights, mandating wage increases for all workers to cover the cost of living. My own living expenses have risen by close to 6% this year and sadly, if I was still working in the restaurant industry, I'd be praying for just a few basic extended health benefits, never mind a wage increase of any sort that would help cover my cost of living.

When will Ontarians stand up and realize that our current government is doing nothing to equalize wages? When will we stop fighting wage increases for deserving public employees and start fighting for wage increases for ALL deserving residents? Could you live on $20,500/year? Neither can the person who sold you your $100 yoga pants or the person who cooked the restaurant meal that made you rave for weeks.



*Note: Most of us know that much of the hospital, long term care and other institutional meals served to patients is not prepared onsite. Sadly, much of what is, is simply opened from a can or bag and heated up. I hesitate to call the food preparation workers cooks because it is simply not true. On the brighter side, many of these institutions are experiencing a food revolution of sorts, with people finally realizing that good food is the key to good long term health. Let's hope this revolution continues.