British Columbia鈥檚 election has been unofficially underway for weeks, but on Sept. 21, the official race to run the province begins.
The writ drops on that day, with the final day of voting less than a full month later on Oct. 19.
We鈥檙e going to pack a lot into that month. Lawn signs and candidates knocking on doors, debates between party leaders as well as local candidates, advertising on radio, TV, in newspapers, on social media.
It鈥檚 going to be a lot to take in, as usual.
The important thing is that you don鈥檛 have to take in all of it. You do not have to obsess over polls or watch every single debate or memorize each party鈥檚 platform.
But if you do want to vote, now is the time to get involved.
If you know exactly who you want to win, that can mean volunteering for a campaign, or putting up a lawn sign, or attending a rally.
On the other hand, it could mean just identifying the one or two issues you feel most strongly about, and researching what the parties, and your local candidates, say they鈥檒l do about those issues.
There will be plenty of information out there 鈥� the parties will be happy to tell you what they say they鈥檒l do, and there will be news stories about what they鈥檝e actually done in the past.
Check out reputable sources of information where you can, whether that鈥檚 news, official reports, or the party platforms.
Remember that the parties are also composed entirely of human beings.
Do politicians lie? Yeah, sometimes. They also tend to put as positive a spin as they can on everything they say and do.
But in general, they鈥檙e people. They鈥檙e people facing huge, seemingly insurmountable problems like homelessness, housing prices, inflation, unemployment, and doctor shortages.
We鈥檒l hear a lot during this campaign about different possible solutions to those problems.
But none of the parties are going to wave a magic wand and solve all of them the day after the election, or the year after.
Democracy is about trying to sort out the people with the best plans and the most goodwill, and then fling them at their tasks. That鈥檚 what the coming four weeks will be about.
鈥� M.C.
