It’s been difficult to write a blog this week. With the impending passage of Bill C-38, I’ve felt a crippling sense of doom. In fact, this is my second blog. The first time I sat down to write, all I could manage was a rather embarrassing 500-word diatribe that I’m almost certain no one in their right mind would have read.

This week’s blog: Take 2

During our lecture tonight, one of my instructors asked us what channels were available to effectively communicate with leaders (political, organizational and corporate) who might be in a position to drive policy change. Our online session went silent. No one seemed to have an answer to that. I too was speechless. Maybe we were all feeling voiceless after the past month in Canadian politics.

The key word is “effective.” There are plenty of avenues for one-way communication — I can stand outside my MP’s office and protest — but there doesn’t appear to be any way to have a helpful dialogue, at least not with our recent political leaders.

I truly believe that our democracy is in crisis. And while it may seem that we’ll never have an accountable government again, we, the people, are the only entity that can ensure we do. Despite our democracy’s recent challenges, we still have votes, and that gives us power. Ultimately if all else fails, we have our votes to express our displeasure with our government’s tactics. If our political leaders won’t listen to the Canadian people’s concerns any other way, we can call them to task come election time. And we must.

Regardless whether we are all in agreement with the Harper government’s policies or not is irrelevant. Our government represents tyranny. At this point in time there is no effective communication between our government and its people, but there should be, there must be. If we are to fix this situation we must show our current government that we, the electorate, still have a voice. Although many people are riled up right now, it’s likely that come the next election most will have forgotten about the government’s bully tactics, but it’s imperative that we do not forget. If we forget, we show the next government and the one after that and all governments to come that they can do whatever they please. Once they are elected, they do not need to keep a dialogue going with their publics. No, they just need to suck up to us right before the next election and all will be well. If we do not communicate with our votes, Conservative, Liberal and NDP will all learn the same lesson: Democracy doesn’t matter.

Come 2015, don’t forget. Stand up for democracy and make your voice heard. No government should be allowed to cheat the democratic process, but unless we make our voices heard, that’s exactly what will happen: over and over and over again.