2025-04-19: voting

election coming up. a couple of months ago things were feeling really bad, with the conservatives leading — by a mile — in the polls. but then trudeau stepped down, a replacement with bona fides was found, and the guy to the south started acting like his old self.

and so instead of a historic wipeout of the liberals we're seeing a strong lead (which has held for the last month or so) by the same, a lead which could return them to a majority government. given everything, something of an electoral miracle.

i used to be principled, and would only ever vote my convictions (typically ndp or green). i talked about alternative electoral systems. i was young and starry-eyed and had in retrospect an endless amount of time. but in the meantime, something changed (the world or me or both) and i now vote for the most likely least reprehensible option. i don't love it, but that's the world we live in. refuse to vote a certain way and you can end up with unintended consequences. when i think what of what the pandemic would've looked like otherwise: yeah, i made the right call.

this year has been bleak, what with everything. i've got hope that the next two weeks will lead to something meaningful. canada's not a world power nor will it ever be. but maybe it can be good, and an example, in the midst of everything else.

(advance polls today. we just got back from voting.)

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