Canada has a massive problem with voter apathy.
In a high voter education/participation environment, Conservative/Liberal/NDP leadership shouldn’t really matter because democratic governments work for their people, and if a democratically elected official implements something the population doesn’t like, we should collectively throw a fit and prevent them from doing the things we don’t want. We should expect a good plan for every party that addresses any shortcoming from the previous leadership in a constant March towards improved quality of life for everyone.
Unfortunately, the average Canadian barely votes and has an abysmal understanding of how society is run. So we can’t collectively agree on what the solution should be, or sometimes even what the problem really is.
Liberals talk a big game and generally winding up doing very little to resolve core issues (oligopolies, housing, wages, foreign interference). I personally can’t trust the center-right CPC/OPC party that welcomes social conservatives as the only way to differentiate itself, and LIB/CON parties are corrupt and self serving.
I generally vote ABC, and would love ranked ballots and proportional representation of some kind. It helps reduce strategic voting, people feel more heard and likely to participate in democracy, and encourages parties to entice your vote with good policy instead of running as the only real alternative to the bad, horrible, intolerable “other party”.
I feel like we’re basically waiting for gen z to grow up and start running for the positions held by gen x / boomers.
Bandaid solutions like increasing the number of foreign workers aren’t working and the cost of living is hitting insolvency. The older generations are realizing their retirement savings isn’t going to last and the younger generations are finding no place for them in this late stage capitalism.
It would be ideal if grassroots movements were able to put in younger and better representatives in these immediate coming elections. But sadly I think we’re stuck on this course until it’s consequences start directly effecting political class individuals’ ability to participate in government and retire.