They want my vote but won’t talk to me

I am a 72-year-old woman who has been politically active since I was 16. I have voted for every party and in every election.

I am more concerned now than ever before. I am not talking about health care, not about education, or housing, or the environment. 

Yes those issues worry me (and other Canadians) especially as I hear from my granddaughter the fear these issues hold for our youth. 

What scares me this election, unlike the past, is the promises made by our candidates, from all of them irrespective of their party affiliation; irrespective of their age, political experience (or lack thereof) and personal wealth and privileges. 

Please stop making these promises.

Engaged electors are smart. We see the emptiness behind these promises. We see what you aren’t telling us. What we really need to know is: where are you getting the money to fulfill your commitments? Why would we believe you if you can’t show us, specifically and comprehensively, how you will hold yourself accountable for implementing what you say you will do for us?

For many Canadians on a fixed income, these promises land differently. Every dollar needed to fund a new program hits us much harder. Don’t get me wrong, I am all for progressive policies to improve public health, bolster the economy and make the lives of all Canadians better. 

What worries me are the hundreds of billions of dollars being waved in our face without any explanation of how we can afford this.

Gone are the days when a fully costed election platform was presented by the major parties, carefully reviewed well in advance of voting day by the Parliamentary Budget Office. 

The Liberals, Conservatives and NDP tell us it’s coming, and it has been reported that the PBO will be reviewing each party’s platform cost analysis. But the debates will be over by then and many will be voting early at advance polls, while those waiting till April 28 may or may not get answers.

If this is the state of our democracy today, can we even call it that any more? How could a system of voting blindly, without any real idea of the consequences, be called a democracy?

Local candidates are seldom seen, and the long list of issues in my backyard are impacting the local community without any meaningful commitments from those who want us to send them to Parliament, where they are supposed to represent us. 

I read many newspapers, watch and listen to the news and am engaged with social media. I get angrier each time I hear candidate after candidate promise the billions and billions of dollars (our money) they are committing: promises to build much-needed affordable housing, eliminate health care barriers and prepare for the worsening impacts of the environmental crisis. 

Somehow, unbeknownst to us voters, politicians of all stripes are going to turn these promises into actions all while giving us a tax cut, and without reducing our critical community services. REALLY? 

I know I am not alone with these questions and concerns.

When we were younger my husband and I regularly attended all candidate meetings. If you are lucky enough to remember these meetings, you will know that is where we could ask questions of all our hopeful MPs and MPPs (and without fail they all attended). We went because we could expect answers and often had open and honest debates about the most pressing issues facing voters. 

We would explore our concerns with those who wanted our vote. And we could question them if something in their platform didn’t make sense to us.

What happened to those meetings? Why can’t I find one in my riding? Why do I write to candidates but don’t even get acknowledgement of my emails let alone responsible and respectful answers to my questions?

Why have we – voters, the media – but most importantly, and what should be obvious, our candidates put up with this lack of transparent communication and accountability? It gets worse with each election. 

Doug Ford was just elected with another powerful majority and I still don’t know how he plans to fix our crumbling health care system, which I will have to rely on more and more. 

How are the federal candidates going to deliver more doctors and nurses? How would they help or pressure the provinces? What funding mechanisms would they use and how would it be paid for? 

We don’t know.

Are those hoping to represent us too scared, too entitled, too privileged to care? Are they ignoring us because they know, just like Doug Ford, that they can? 

I have had good elected representatives over the years. Those who listened, responded to my communications and answered my questions in a dignified and responsive manner. Now, all I get is an abundance of party promises that fewer and fewer of us really believe will be fulfilled.

Again, this year I will vote. Not with joy and pride the way I used to vote, but because I am committed to being accountable and fulfilling my responsibility and honouring my privilege as a citizen. I will cast my ballot. 

I am cynical, yes, but I am also hopeful. Which is why I am taking the time to share my concerns in hope that my candidates in Brampton will prove me wrong, and answer my questions.

Rhonda Collis has lived with her family in Brampton for 45 years. Over her 25-year career as a Community Worker with Peel Public Health she supported those who survived the challenges of living in poverty. During her PPH career and now in retirement she volunteers with committees and agencies to help create policies and procedures that are responsive to the needs of the community.