Tuesday, June 01, 2004

SURPRISINGLY DISTRACTED BY SUMMER

Prior to the election call there was speculation that an early summertime election would reduce participation in that election, the reasoning being that many people would be distracted by other summertime pursuits. I did not doubt this reasoning, especially when taking the trend of declining voter turnout into consideration, however, I never thought that it would befall me, yet it has.

The country is in the midst of a federal election, yet I am not paying attention to it even at the level that I would normally attend to everyday news. This is surprising to me. Nevertheless other activities such as reading novels (which I don't get to do enough of during the school term), soccer refereeing, playing tennis, watching movies, spending time with family and friends, amongst other relaxing passtimes are all drawing my attention away from the election.

Obviously, this is not to say that I will not be voting, nor that I will be making an uninformed decision. I was nearly certain of how I would cast my vote before the election began and the brief comparisons of party platforms that I have been able to make have so far confirmed my decision. However, I am wondering if my relative lack of disengagement will be reflected in citizen participation both during the campaing and in election day turnout.

Post Script- I'm off to Montreal this morning for my graduation from McGill, which occurs tomorrow. The summertime rate of blogging will likely continue through this week.

Posted by Matthew @ 8:42 a.m.