I Fought The Law...

Not even close...but I did break it with one of my blog posts, apparently. Thanks to the guidance of one of my friends, Carmel, I realized that the post I wrote about selling my vote was indeed illegal. I kept the post there though, just because I think the comments are funny, and also because I think it's relevant for future discussions on the election.

My friend Yining also pointed something out to me; selling my vote, even if legal, would be almost useless. The riding I live in, Mont-Royal, hasn't voted Conservative since 1935. And that was a very different time for the riding, before Hampstead and Cote-St-Luc were filled with predominantly Liberal-voting Jews. Just so you know, that was not an anti-semitic comment. I'm Jewish myself, I just wanted to get the facts out there.

This photo is here for informative purposes, not an endorsement

When Irwin Cotler was first elected in 1999, he won 91.97% of the vote. The Conservatives haven't even come close to the Liberals, since 1984 when Pierre Trudeau was not running in that riding for the first time in 19 years.

"Réal Caouette, long-time leader of the Social Credit Party in Quebec, once said that a mailbox could win the Liberal nomination in Mount Royal and still win election just because it was red (the traditional colour of the Liberal Party)." (Wikipedia)

Also, my Understanding Quebec teacher once said that if a dog ran as a Liberal in my Provincial Riding of D'Arcy McGee, he would win.

And they were both right.

The point is, despite my riding's extremely Liberal views, voting is still important. It's our democratic right, and even though I originally opposed voting in this election because of my lack of knowledge on the subject, I'm changing my position.

I encourage you, wherever your riding, however one-sided it is, to still vote. I will.