A Clarion Call to Action

I am a Canadian citizen by naturalization. Both of my parents were Canadian citizens by naturalization.

My mother was born in Denmark in 1922. My father was born in Bohemia in 1907. Bohemia was part of the Austrian-Hungarian Empire. After the First World War, the area was annexed to Czechoslovakia as the Sudetenland.

I was born in March 1949. My mother was in the first cohort of women to have their pregnancies covered under the newly created U.K. National Health Services, which came into force in 1948. She was weighed weekly and attended weekly exercise classes. In 1949, England still had rationing. However, children were supplied with additional produce, such as eggs, because it was recognized that good nutrition was vital. As an aside, just before we immigrated to Canada in 1954, the last item was removed from rationing — eggs. My parents immigrated from a country with a national health service to a country which would not bring into force medical coverage for another12 years. I can still remember my father’s despair that, “If I become ill, it will bankrupt the family for the rest of our lives.” But despite this potential financial burden, my parents were thrilled to live in Canada. They waited the obligatory 5 years and on June 29, 1959, all four of us became Canadian citizens. The Hon. Ellen Fairclough signed our Citizenship certificates.

I can still remember my parents’ dismay when the Progressive Conservatives under John Diefenbaker won a majority on March 31, 1958. It wasn’t until the general election on April 8, 1963 that my parents’ dream of seeing Lester Pearson become Prime Minister was realized. For my parents (and myself), Lester B. Pearson personified everything they admired about Canada.

My father was stateless from 1938 to 1950. In the UK General Election of 1950, my father voted Labour. Given his Sudetenland Social Democrat roots, he could never vote Conservative. When we moved to Canada, my father would have voted NDP. My mother had other ideas. An intelligent person with a social conscience, the only party which she was prepared to support was the Liberal Party of Canada. Three of us remained Liberal voters our entire lives (my brother, as my mother put it, is Right of Atilla the Hun). I can still remember the categorization of Canada’s political parties long before I was able to vote — the Conservatives cared only for the rich, the NDP cared only for the poor, and only the Liberals represented the middle class.

We were a family that discussed politics. We understood the fundamental need to vote. If my father had a mantra, it was “use it or lose it.” After every election, whether municipal, provincial or federal, he would always ask whether or not we voted. If the answer was “no,” then we were barred from participating in political conversation until we corrected our error of judgement. Neither of my parents ever asked which party we voted for. Our decision making was between our conscience and the ballot.

I am proud of my Canadian citizenship. I grew up in a household where citizenship was never taken for granted. Refugees, landed immigrants, and permanent residents cannot vote. Only citizenship grants you that right. I know that my individual vote will not necessarily impact how any political party in power determines to govern. I also know that voting should represent more than just winning or losing. The right to vote is greater than the outcome of any football game, hockey game, or tennis match. Voting is not a spectator sport.

In 1933, Germans believed that the only way to Make Germany Great Again was to elect Adolf Hitler. They believed that a history of democracy would hold him in check. Their collective decision cost 12 million people their lives in concentration camps, 40–46 million civilian deaths, 21–25 million military deaths, and 19–28 million deaths from war-related disease and famine. Roughly 3% of the total world population died.

There are certain times in history when voting becomes essential. Canada is facing such a moment with the next general election. The entire democratic world is tilting — not just to the right but to the alt-right. Alt-right political thought once considered anathema is becoming mainstream.

Canada is standing at the precipice. This is no time to take our democracy for granted. This is no time to be apathetic about voting.

We are faced with a choice: do we want to move to the alt-right or do we want a government that is centrist in its vision?

I certainly know how I shall be voting.

Ingrid C. Dandanell, Acting Chair of Seniors Liberal Commission (Alberta)