Last week, I took the car in to get an oil leak looked after and the next day we headed out of town.
After a few hours, we stopped for a bathroom break and as we backed out of our parking spot, we thought we should check to see if we had left any oil spills behind.
We backed out and sure enough, there was a brown spill right where we had parked.
We jumped out, stuck our fingers in it and then I remembered dumping my cold coffee on the pavement when we first got there. It was both humbling and humorous.
Speaking of pavement … last week the pavement in the local mall parking lot was packed to full capacity, not with shoppers, but voters – approximately 600 of them. It was an impressive sight. Among the crowd, was a colony of Hutterites who had chartered a bus to get there.
There were people of all ages who patiently waited in line to register. Afterwards, those same people listened intently and respectfully as each of the six candidates for the Kindersley riding Saskatchewan Party nomination shared for 10 minutes. Following the speeches, they all dropped their ballots in the ballot box.
[emember_protected for=”2″ custom_msg=’For more on this story, please see the Jan. 12 print edition of The Cross Roads.’]
Every one of those people had made the effort to obtain a membership beforehand. Every one of those people cared enough to set aside an entire evening to vote. Some will volunteer in the future, or become involved in electoral district associations, which in turn propose policy resolutions later this year.
Not only are Canadians becoming more active, but they are learning to be smart shoppers as well. When browsing among candidates, they look beyond the mailouts, handshakes and soliciting, and seek out the heart of the candidates and what they stand for.
Many voters do their own research, and abandon media when it takes on the role of advocate, rather than presenting straight-forward news.
Smart shoppers are looking for leaders who live in a results-based reality, where ideas are judged by the results they produce when played out in our provinces and country. In the long run, results produce historical evidence that makes its verdict clear.
This is simple, yet vital, because there’s an increasing belief that truth is in the eye of the beholder, therefore all results or evidence is subject to personal opinion.
But there is no denying the truth that results do produce evidence, regardless of personal opinion.
Like the attorney who told the accused, “I have some good news and some bad news.”
“What’s the bad news?” asked the accused.
“The bad news is, your blood is all over the crime scene and the DNA tests prove you did it.”
“What’s the good news?” he asked.
“Your cholesterol is 130.” the attorney concluded.
At the end of the day, a smart shopper like myself can’t deny the evidence that proves the difference between a spot of spilled coffee and an oil spill. More importantly, we can’t deny the importance of every Canadian showing up to vote.
[/emember_protected] 
