Why I Vote: Fraser Needham
- | October 19, 2015
Why I Vote: Fraser Needham
As part of our coverage of the 2015 Federal Election, we are asking Indigenous people in this province to tell us "Why I Vote." These are the unedited words from our interviewees. You can find more in our Interviews Section.
I don’t only always vote, I have spent much
of my life trying to convince others to cast ballots in elections.
Yes I was involved and also worked for a
political party but this is not why I am writing to you. I am fully aware that
our first past the post electoral system is flawed and that all the parties
focus on only a small sector of the population while largely ignoring the poor,
labour, women, youth and Indigenous people to name a few groups.
So why vote?
It is vitally important for citizens to use
all levers of our democratic system to make their voices heard and this
includes voting in elections. When you don’t vote, it makes it that much easier
for political parties and governments to ignore you. And people need to use
every tool they can in our society to be heard.
There are also really no negative
consequences to voting but plenty of potentially negative ones when you don’t
vote. It only takes five minutes, so go vote.
In a previous life, I did a lot of campaigning
on First Nations reserves and I always loved it. My experience was if you
conducted yourself in an honest and respectful fashion, First Nations people
were more than happy to talk, engage and listen to what you have to say. Much
more so than in the non-Aboriginal population, to be honest.
Sadly political parties have often ignored
Aboriginal issues and people in elections. However, this campaign has been very
different. Two of the three main parties have highlighted Indigenous issues in
their campaigns and seem genuinely interested in improving the relationship
between government and Aboriginal people which unfortunately is in a very poor
state right now.
So you still have some time to research
what all the parties are saying by going and reading through each of their
platforms which are posted online on their websites.
And please do go out and vote on Monday October 19.
See also: