Voter turnout figures were a disgrace
Editorial

First, we have to offer our congratulations to Dr. Helena Jaczek and Julia Munro. They have both earned the right to be the spokespeople for King Township in the provincial legislature at Queen's Park for the next four years.

And at the same time, we offer compliments to the worthy citizens who ran against them in last week's provincial election. All 12 of the people who put their names on local ballots deserve the thanks of the community.

But we regret that we cannot call either victory decisive. True, Jaczek was almost 12 percentage points ahead of her closest rival, and Munro was even further in the lead. Our problem is not enough votes were cast to make this a really true picture of the feelings of the electorate.

Only 48.1 per cent of the eligible voters in Oak Ridges - Markham got out to vote, according to the figures issued last week by Elections Ontario. The numbers were a little better in York - Simcoe, with about 50.8 per cent making it to the polls. Actual figures on where these votes came from probably won't be available for a couple of weeks, so we have no way of determining how diligent voters in King were. But over these two ridings, roughly half of the people who could have voted didn't. In the common slang of the day, that sucks.

Jaczek will be sitting on the government side of the legislature for the next four years. At the risk of jinxing her, we observe there is a possibility she might one day find herself sitting around the table of Premier Dalton McGuinty's cabinet. And she has done that with the blessing of a little more than 23 per cent of the electorate in her riding. Not even a quarter of the voters voiced their support for her.

Munro will be sitting in the opposition benches, with just a little more support from her constituents, to the tune of 23.5 per cent. Again, not even one in four.

The fault is not Jaczek's or Munro's. The fault is with each and every one of you who didn't bother to vote.

Some of you may have had good reasons, such as illness, family emergencies, unexpected problems at work, etc. But how many of you can claim one of those legitimate explanations.

The reality is half of you reading this probably didn't vote last week, and most of you who didn't likely don't have a good reason.

The rest of us did vote.

So if you're okay with the rest of us calling the shots on what kind of government we have in Ontario, that's fine. We don't want to hear any complaining from you for the next four years. If there are problems with the way things are being run, the time to address them was last Wednesday.