Page 4A - THE NEWS REVIEW - Thursday, October 15, 2015 PUBLISHER: Neil Thom
THE NEWS REVIEW The News Review is published every Thursday at 20 Third Avenue North, Yorkton, Saskatchewan S3N 2X3. e-mail: editorial@yorktonnews.com ads@yorktonnews.com read us online: www.yorktonnews.com
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EDITORIAL
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OFFICE MANAGER: Diane St. Marie WRITER: Devin Wilger SALES: Penny Pearce PRODUCTION MANAGER: Carol Melnechenko CIRCULATION/ADMIN: Michaela Miller
Time for democratic reforms It seems like a long time ago that the federal election started, but here we are at the end. By the time the next edition of News Review is published we will have a new government in Ottawa. If exit polls from advance voting hold true, Yorkton-Melville’s MP will be Cathay Wagantall and she will sit in the opposition benches across from a Liberal minority government. Nine weeks ago, when the writ was dropped, that seemed like a remote possibility. The grits were solidly in third place. Predictions at the time had the possibility of the third party picking up the most seats on October 19 in the low single digits. The NDP looked strong, but the efficiency of the Conservative vote kept them in the minority seat range for most of the election. All in all, it was a tight three-way race, the tightest in Canadian history. All the parties struggled to find the ballot box question that would help them pull away from the pack. In the last couple of weeks, voters have revealed that this has always been a change election. In all honesty, how could it not be? Stephen Harper has had 10 years as prime minister. That’s pretty much the limit Canadians have ever given anyone in the modern era (postWorld War II). It’s not over, we could still end up with a minority from any of the three parties, or a remote chance of a majority. As we enter the next mandate, we need to decide what kind of change is needed. Whomever we elect, they will, minority or majority, have gotten their with much less than a plurality of the popular vote. The last Conservative majority was achieved with less than 40 per cent of voters. This must change. In the 21st century, in a country as diverse as Canada, this is no way to elect a government. We also need to start clawing back the power of the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO). It may have been Pierre Trudeau who started the consolidation of power in the PMO, but it is Harper who has turned it basically into a republican presidency. Our system was set up so that the House of Commons would hold the power, not the prime minister. The Senate is another institution that requires reform. It will not be abolished, but that does not mean it can’t be made relevant. We should be looking at elections and term limits. Whatever else happens in the next Parliament, strengthening our democratic institutions is a priority Canadians support. We need to keep reminding our MPs of that.
Why wait for influenza immunization Influenza immunization clinics begin on October 19, 2015. Over the coming week, a listing of all Sunrise Health Region influenza immunization clinics will be delivered to every home mailbox in the region. A total of 100 clinics in 36 communities are planned in Sunrise Health Region from October to December. “Getting vaccinated early in the season is especially important for people at high-risk of influenza complications and for their caregivers; this includes pregnant women, young children, elderly, persons with underlying health conditions, and persons who are immune-compromised,” says Vice President of Medical Services and Senior Medical Officer, Dr. Phillip Fourie. Residents of all ages, including children over the age of 6 months, can get the injectable vaccine as soon as the flu clinics start on October 19th. The nasal spray vaccine, an option for children between the ages of two and 17, will be available before the end of October. The flu vaccine is a safe, effective way for people to protect themselves and those close to them during the flu season. A public health nurse at each of the clinics
will ask a series of questions to screen for the very few people who cannot be immunized. When attending the clinics, people are encouraged to wear a short sleeved shirt and will need their Saskatchewan Health Card. “The arrival of influenza illness in our communities is unpredictable, which is why we encourage people to be immunized as soon as the vaccine is available,” adds Dr. Fourie. “We are asking everyone to watch their mail for the clinic listings and to make plans for their family members to be immunized as early as possible in the season.” By immunizing the whole family, the chance of exposure to influenza is reduced for more vulnerable members of the family. The clinic listing is distributed to every home mailbox in the region, with the exception of addresses that refuse delivery of flyers. The clinic list can also be found on the region website www.sunrisehealthregion.sk.ca and by dialing Healthline at 811. Daily clinic locations are also posted on our Facebook page “Sunrise Health Region”, on Twitter @SunriseRegion and are recorded on the Sunrise Daily Information Update Line, which can be called toll-free at 1-866-800-5510.
Youth vote one thing that everyone agrees on It’s rare that you can get an entire room to agree with you at an all candidates forum, but Brooke Malinoski did it at the one in Yorkton. She was the lone candidate to get spontaneous applause at the event. She did this by using her closing remarks to talk about the importance of getting out the youth vote, something everyone in the room – including all four candidates on stage – could support. It’s also telling that while the room agreed that getting voters under 25 to the polling station was an important goal, very few people in the room were actually voters under 25. Malinoski herself was one of the few people in that age group, and might have been one of the youngest voters in the room that night. She recognized this herself, telling the crowd to talk to their children, grandchildren and young relatives to get out and vote, but while her message was well received it was not actually reaching the people who needed to hear it. And how could it? They weren’t actually there. Voter apathy among young people is high, and it’s a major struggle in ridings like YorktonMelville, which has had exactly two MPs since it was established in 1968. It’s a safe seat, and when they see a candidate walk to victory, they tend to think the entire exercise is pointless. There begins to be a feeling that no matter what you do, your
Things I do with words... Column Devin Wilger vote doesn’t matter, so there’s no point in caring. There might be people that think that the election is controlled by old people anyway, so there’s no point in trying to push issues important to young people. The election is controlled by the older generations for a simple reason, they vote. The election isn’t controlled by the young because they don’t. When you have a voter turnout of under 40 per cent, you don’t give politicians a reason to care about your issues. A party has more to gain by talking about prescription drug plans than student debt, for example, because a prescription plan is going to benefit people who actually get to the polls. They are both important issues, of course, but you only have so much time for campaigning
and so much money for advertising, so you prioritize what matters to get people who cast their ballots. This, of course, further convinces the young people that their voices don’t matter. If they want their voices to matter, they have to make them matter. If every single person in this riding under the age of 25 cast their ballots, it would lead to a major change in the issues that candidates follow and push forward. For right or wrong, politicians follow their supporters, they want to satisfy the people who will vote for them and put them in office. If it turns out that the young people are who puts them in office, they’re going to look at policies that matter to young people, because that would become a demographic that matters. The voter apathy among that demographic is the entire reason why they don’t have their voices heard – why listen to someone who will not support you anyway? Voter apathy among youth might have been highlighted by the Liberal candidate, but it’s not a Liberal issue. It’s an issue that exists no matter what your views or political leaning, it’s important because it’s the only way the youth will make an impact in politics. Everyone under 25 should vote, because everyone over 18 should vote. Do it on Monday.