Don't ignore the sacrifices, go vote

Oct 10, 2007

Two stories on the front page of today’s edition have us looking ahead a month to one of the nation’s most solemn moments of the year.

Juxtaposed against one another are the stories of tracking down a war hero from Trout Creek who went missing on what most assuredly was an ugly First World War battlefield, and, how to get our hands on a ballot for the provincial election.
There is a string between the two.

One attaching importance to a man’s sacrifice and the other the just and upright rewards he and thousands of others earned us.

The First World War was often described as the War to End All Wars. We know this wasn’t true.

Outside of the Second World War, just as intense battles have been waged for countless causes, taking countless lives. Our capacity for self-destruction has not waned.

But here in Ontario, and especially Almaguin, we are blessed with a peacefulness envied in so many other parts of the world.

This isn’t an accident.

It comes from vigilance – vigilance to stand up for what we believe in, vigilance to care about the methods of our government and vigilance to take our civic duties seriously.

Today we are all handed the torch of self-determination of our governance. It is a quick and painless process to vote for our leaders, rather than the archaic systems that have and still do throw entire civilizations into chaos.

It must surely be one of the reasons so many of our ancestors lay in foreign graves after standing up for the principles of democracy.

Even in today’s world of modern conveniences voting is just as important as it is in nations that struggle to find the necessities of life.

So get out and vote.

We know this tune has been shrilly cried out before, but we care not.

For all intents and purposes, voting day should be another day of remembrance of those who laid their lives on the line for the principles of freedom and self-determination.

For Ernest Turnbull and all of the other young men and women who didn’t come home, we sound the call to get out and vote. They paid a high price to grant us the privilege. Let’s not let them down.