Whether or not a certain topic or issue put forward by the municipal, provincial or federal government concerns a person, each member of the community affected has an obligation to cast their vote, and to be heard.
It is of vital importance to remember that, especially in the face of the growing trend of voter apathy in recent years, because in order for democracy to work properly we all have a part to play.
This is not merely in reference to the looming federal election on October 19, where candidates are pledged to ridings far from their own stomping grounds, nor is it solely about the future municipal election in 2017.
In Barrhead, we have another more important matter taking place in less than a month and it has a lot to do with the future of the community, regardless of which jurisdiction one falls into.
The plebiscite scheduled for October 7th in both the town and the county, while not a mandatory community commitment, is the perfect example of voting power if people harbour any doubts about the impact they can have on matters that are of import.
If you are for the proposed pool, vote yes. If you are not in favour of the proposed pool, vote no instead.
Choosing not to participate in the plebiscite means that you do not care one way or another whether the community you are a part of either grows or withers away, whether it blooms or stagnates, and that you do not have an opinion on something that has the potential to benefit both yourself and future generations.
It means that your voice will not be contributing to an issue that has already divided the community, and by your absence deals a blow to the spirit of the democratic process.
Even if you are for the idea of a pool, but do not like the design of this particular project, cast your vote.
Remember that most people actually want a pool, and they want the community to grow, but there are some things that are worrying to many individuals.
Obviously one of them is operational cost, but nothing can be done about that until after the pool is actually built, and that is not the point of the plebiscite.
The purpose of it is to gauge how the public feels about the project in the broadest sense, and about how important such a thing is to each of us.
But doing nothing – not casting a vote either way – means that when the time comes and the pool is a reality rather than just words and pictures on paper, you will have missed the opportunity to have a choice at all.
Do yourself and your community a favour by marking October 7th on your calendar, and get in contact with your representative council members to find out about the arguments for and against the pool, if you have not done so already – it has been covered quite extensively in the paper, or take part in the information sessions being held on Sept. 16, 23, 28 and 29, but do your civic duty by participating in the vote.
