Councillor C.J. Rhodes. (Richard McGuire file photo)

(Editor’s note: The following comments were made by Councillor C.J. Rhodes as a “rant” at the end of the Oct. 15 council meeting. Although the election is over, his concerns about voter turnout are still very relevant.)

The last three or four meetings I’ve been passing on and not using any of my time, so I thought I would kind of go back and use it all up today.

We have two very important dates coming up, Nov. 11 is Remembrance Day, and Oct. 20 is our civic election day in Osoyoos.

These two dates are closely related. And if it wasn’t for the sacrifice of lives by many Canadians in many armed conflicts over the years, we probably wouldn’t even have an election on Oct. 20.

So, I have a few statistics I’d like to throw out here. First off, I’d like to make a comment. Voter turnout in Osoyoos is pathetic. And I know that’s a strong word, but the reality is it’s true.

In 2002, 54.8 per cent of eligible voters turned out to vote. In 2005 we went up slightly to 57.2 per cent, and then we started a big decline down to 46.5 per cent in 2008, and down to 40.2 per cent in 2011, which was our worst voter turnout percentage in our history in Osoyoos. And then we went up slightly in 2014 our last election to 42.4 per cent. And you know, voter turnout is, as a whole, shameful in Osoyoos.

So those are some pretty strong comments and I wanted to offer a few solutions to it if I could.

I have six points I’d like to make.

The first one is the only way that democracy works is if its citizens young and old are active participants.

A government by the people for the people just can’t work without the people. Everybody has probably heard that. That’s part of the U.S. Constitution, I think. Maybe.

Second one, if you don’t vote, you really have no right to complain about government decisions you don’t like, no matter how much they actually suck. If you don’t vote, it’s like saying you don’t care about how your town is run so if you don’t care, where do you get the right to complain?

The third one, bottom line you should vote because you can. It’s a gift. Believe it or not people in Canada have fought and many have died to protect your right to vote. And I often like to ask would you give your life for that privilege, because a lot of people did.

Fourth one is voting ensures that your opinion is taken into account. Elected officials formulate policies, that govern health care, education, fixing your streets, taxes and many other vital issues in your life.

Fifth one is every vote makes a difference. Some people think that it makes no sense to vote since it doesn’t make a difference. Well, what if everyone did and thought that way, our life as we know it would change drastically for the worse.

So, the final one is the one that I like the best. And that’s contempt. We’ve all been angered by something that a politician has done or not done that affects our life in a negative way. What an awesome opportunity to get even.

On Nov. 11 please remember and respect the essence of the day and on Oct. 20, let’s get out there and vote. It is so important that we do that.

C.J. RHODES

Special to the Times