Back to the polls we go

It’s election season! This April will be full of town hall meetings, campaign rallies, national debates, and a whole lot of hand-shaking. The nation’s landscape is dotted with lawn signs, eager volunteers are canvassing from door-to-door on behalf of their candidates, and dinner tables across the country are now venues for debating party platforms and predicting final results.

We would like to encourage all the readers of Recovery to make their voices heard by going out to vote on May 2. Although it is easy to sometimes feel apathetic about federal politics in this country – after all, this will be the fourth federal election in 7 years – we should take the time to recognize how fortunate we are to live in a country where we can hold free and fair elections with such relative ease.

Despite all the campaign blusters, attack ads, coalition talk, political clichés and empty promises, we should celebrate the fact that the people who will be sitting in Parliament in the coming months and years are the people that we choose to send there.  As evidenced by the recent revolts and continued bloodshed across the Middle East, having a real functioning democracy is no minor feat. No matter where you stand on the issues or which party you choose to support, be sure to get involved in the political process!

Good luck to all the candidates running in this year’s election, especially Scott Bradley (running in Ottawa Centre), the husband of occupational therapist Fiona Smith Bradley of Smith Bradley & Associates, and insurance lawyer David Bertchi (running in Orleans).  It takes tremendous courage to run for public office, and whether or not you agree with a candidate’s politics, we can all agree wanting to represent your community is a noble goal.