Elections...

I got the reminder in my mailbox today. I wonder what to do?

Oh, did you say elections? Yup. Federal? Nope... Provincial? Nope... Municipal? You aren't even close.

Scholar. Schoolboards. To elect a "commissionnaire", for 4 years.

So I am a registered voter with the "Commission Scolaire de Montréal" (aka CSDM). Like many Quebec adults, that schoolboard didn't exist when we were sitting on school benches.

I have no kids. The only reason I'm registered with the CSDM, is because the high school I went... fell in the hands of the CSDM.

Voters' turnout? Utterly low. At the last elections: 10%. Ten percent.

It is sad. Schoolboards are a good idea, though. Elsewhere, schools are often managed, if not "micro-managed" by towns and cities officials. Having an independent schoolboard taking charge of schools, you avoid the negative influence of rotten politicians from the town or the state who are there just to get re-elected. So, schoolboards do serve a purpose, as a shield.

So there are two candidates in my area. The current commissionnaire going on re-election, and a runner-up, a former commissionnaire from a different district.

It's funny. I never heard of these guys, only... on elections. And when I read their blurb (enclosed in that envelope), I'm floored.

My school, in my time (the 1970s. I'm not exactly... young!), was always in the top 5 schools in Montréal.

You may remember the jointly-run TV quizz by Radio-Canada and the CBC: Génies en Herbe / Reach for the top (A sort of scholar version of today's Jeopardy, with very good ratings on both networks). We went to the National's semi-finals. Not bad for a French-speaking school. We were little geniuses... he said modestly. :)

The only sore point was... "éducation physique". Sport wasn't our forte.

Fast forward some 30 years later...

Too often, I see the name of my high school in the newspapers. We're now the schoolboard's *bottom* 5 schools. Drugs, rapes, violence... along with vandalism, even arson... are common occurrences, so police squads, fire trucks and ambulances are routinely dispatched to my former school (and therefore making the headlines in the newspapers).

So what do I read from these totally unknown candidates? Both are saying that schools are doing so great, both are sayings that they'll work hard to get more money... to fund more SPORT activities.

Hello ?!?

It's my duty to vote. Sunday is coming...

The last time, 90% of eligible voters didn't vote.

Dang, it's tempting...

Cheers,

-E