The Greatest Privilege Of Our Lives

I don't like elections yet I've admired this one. Something is indeed stirring, like some giant creature under the surface that is subtly affecting things drifting above. It doesn't matter which party you are supporting or your well-held opinions on politics, something greater is coming your way that has the ability to generate even more discussions, debates, and ultimately love for this country.You awake this morning not just to a right or a responsibility, but to a privilege. People around the world are rebelling, cajoling, persuading and fighting for the very thing which to some of us is just a thought. They are risking life and limb for a freedom they likely don't fully comprehend while each of us drinks our coffee or tea and wonder whether we should journey to the polling station. Just do it - if not for your sake, then at least for theirs because what is an option for you has become a necessity for them.If I were to query you as to what you felt was the greatest privilege of your life the answers would be plentiful and deeply felt - belief in God, dedication to a spouse, the life of your children, the ability to serve your country, love of nature, a life-long friendship, acquired wealth, a belief in human potential, the right to property, the love of sports. Yet none of these things could be as deeply pursued or enhanced without our ability to protect those essentials. It takes an environment of open expression, of belief in citizenship, of laws preserving your pursuits and your right to progress as an independent being. The ultimate arbitrator responsible for all that isn't some political party or its leaders - it's simply you. Today you get the chance to preserve yourself, your way of life, the improved state of your neighbour and a future for your children and grandchildren. That power is immense. Sure, you might vote for someone or something that might not materialize, but your task then is to engage, persuade, encourage others to bring about what you seek. At the end of it all, if you wish to achieve what you dream of, you will have to vote. Canada is so constituted that it is the greatest endowment ever given to you by a great land.Something is stirring - at a time when many thought it possible. Young people are engaged - just when no one thought they could be. People want their Canada back - just when pundits thought they didn't care. Democracy is awaking - just as the elite believed it to be in a fitful sleep. It might well be that when this day is over no one will ever be able to really trust polls again because they couldn't take into account the deeper stirrings of Canadian desires, so remarkably reflected in social media. In the end, all that skyping, texting, SMSing, emailing, videoing and Vote Mobbing can only have one pure chance at legitimacy, and that is the will to vote. It's just as former American President Lyndon B. Johnson stated: "The vote is the most powerful instrument ever devised by man for breaking down injustice and destroying the terrible walls which imprison men because they are different from other men."Canada has consistently survived because those differences were ameliorated by the vote not disjointed by it. Underneath it all is that great understanding that we Canadians actually need one another. Our country is no greater than the will of its people and it's at its absolute best when citizens put their country above their own personal pursuits. The genius of Canada is its people's' ability to put that lesson into practice.This morning I head to my 88-year old mother-in-law's condo to take her to vote. Accompanying us will be my young three children who I have taken briefly out of school to witness the greatest act any Canadian can undertake. But just before I do all that, I'll lightly run my hands over my deceased father's war medals and whisper "thank you - not just for the upbringing, or the money, or even my heritage, but for ensuring that by this very act of marking a ballot you have left me a legacy that is greater than any memory or inheritance. Why? Because it is by that vote that I preserve this remarkably progressive land that you shed blood for." And then I'll drop that piece of paper in the ballot box, pull my kids into my arms and say: "Regardless of the good things you think I may have undertaken in my life, I have never done anything greater than mark this ballot for your future." They won't fully comprehend, but that doesn't matter because they'll have actually seen it transpire. And then they'll look up to see hundreds of other citizens, including more young people than they thought, making their way to the polling station. And maybe, just maybe, they'll be moved a notch farther to serve this blessed and inclusive land with as much dedication as they are able to muster. This is Canada and this is our day.