Canadian Mandatory Voting

From Yahoo Canada:
"Is it time for mandatory voting in Canada?"

The new session of parliament began Monday, with many on the left of the political spectrum spewing old arguments about the 'legitimacy' of the Harper majority.

After all, they argue, only 60 per cent of the population voted in the last election and of those only 40 per cent voted for the Conservatives. So essentially, about 25 per cent of the voting population gave the Conservatives their majority.

Regardless of the fuzzy math, maybe it's time for Canada to consider mandatory voting. In an article published in the Chronicle Herald on Sunday, political science professor Peter McKenna says Canadians have become political dropouts. "If voting is not an integral component of our democratic polity, as would seem to be the case as more and more Canadians choose to forfeit that right, then Canadians will most assuredly get the government that they don't deserve," McKenna, who teaches at the University of Prince Edward Island wrote. McKenna suggests that before it's too late, we need to follow the lead of other countries and introduce mandatory voting in Canada. "Before you dismiss this proposal, remember voting is already mandatory in over 30 countries. Liberal democracies like Australia, Belgium and Switzerland have well-established compulsory voting systems," he wrote. "Australia routinely garners voter participation rates of 95 per cent, which puts us to shame. Citizens there can be fined (about $20) for not voting without a sufficient reason or justification. And if the nominal fine is not paid after several warning letters, offenders could face possible jail time.

^ This is just plain stupid. I guess people are trying to say that the true face of democracy is forcing people to vote. I personally think that everyone should vote and that those that don't have no claim to make any comments (good or bad) about the government, but making people vote and punishing those that don't is not the way - regardless what they do in Australia. Canada (and countries like the US) need to find ways to get the public interested in politics and voting again - all the current political and economical problems are forcing people away the answer is not forcing them to vote, but fix the problems themselves. ^

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/blogs/canada-politics/time-mandatory-voting-canada-193733213.html