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Well another election has come and gone and nothing has changed.  I for one am very happy that the Conservatives did not get a majority government, but this is for selfish reasons.  I do not want a DMCA like act to pass in Canada and the Conservatives have been trying to get similar legislation through parliament, that would seriously effect my time shifting of televisions shows. 

We download many of our favorite TV shows so we can watch them at later dates.  We do not view this as theft since we pay for satellite TV and only download the shows that we get on cable.  We would watch the shows when they come on TV but are too busy, we would record them with a tivo or VCR but it is too much trouble.  Since we do not want to miss our shows, we download.  Seems stupid to call that theft and introduce legislation to make that illegal and an offense that can bring about a lawsuit.

Well back on the fun election that we just completed.  This time around Dana got two voter registration cards.. one in her maiden name and one in her married name.  I unfortunately did not get a voter card at all.  In the last election I got one and Dana got two.  We called elections Canada and told them about their mistake of sending Dana two cards and instructed them to remove Dana with her maiden name from the registry.  Well I guess they did not understand and instead removed me from the registry.  So this time around I had to register... yeah me!  

I believe strongly in the power of voting and I always look forward to the opportunity, so I waited in the long line-up.  I waited for about 45 mins to get registered, and I noticed something.  Many many people were turned away.  This election saw the lowest voter turn out in a long long time, now why would that be?  

Sure everyone knew that the balance of power was not going to change this time around and that kept many people away.  However what I witnessed was so many people being turned away and a lot of frustration.  The new election rule stated that you had to prove both your address and identification.  However no advertisements I saw or heard made mention of the fact that you had to prove your street address not your box number.  Well in rural Saskatchewan your drivers license carries your box number not your street address. 

I took a count while standing in line and I saw about 50 people entering to vote and in my registration line-up I witnessed almost 20 people being turned away.  Most were polite and understanding, but there were several who were very pissed off that they did not get to exercise their right to vote.  I was even a little annoyed, the rule seems very stupid to me.  I think they need to rethink the rules or do a better job of informing the public before the next election.