Fake Democracy

Jeff Green | Apr 23, 2025

This week, I went to the advanced polls in Lanark–Frontenac to cast my vote—and left the booth feeling like my voice didn’t matter. As I sat there, staring at the ballot, I saw the usual four choices: the Green, the Red, the Blue, and the Orange.

I saw Michelle Foxton for the Liberals, Jesse Pauley for the Greens, Danielle Rae for the NDP, and Scott Reid for the Conser vatives. And not a single one of them represented what I believe in. Not one. I cast my vote anyway—not because I believed in it, but because I refused to give up entirely.

But that X beside a name felt more like a compromise than a choice. Writing in something else would’ve just spoiled the ballot. Leav ing it blank would’ve gone straight to the trash. That’s the part that hits hardest: unless you support one of the “main stream” options, your voice is basically silenced. It’s not democracy—it’s theatre.

And this is exactly why so many Canadians stay home on election day. They’re not lazy or disengaged. They’re tired of pretending this system repre sents them. They’re tired of fake choices and real consequences. They’ve seen this play out too many times to believe it anymore. I held on to one hope: that my reluctant vote might at least send a message to Scott Reid. I left my democratic faith in his hands, hoping he will finally take a real stand on electoral reform and push to bring genuine democracy to this coun try. Not just talk, not just study it—do it. Canadians deserve a system where every vote counts, not just the ones that happen to line up with an outdated party structure. We need reform.

We need leadership. And we need a democracy that gives ev eryone a voice—even when their views don’t fit neatly into Green, Red, Blue, or Orange.

Shane Peters