Ok, first things first, sorry about the lack of posts over the past two weeks. I was going to post while I was away but then I ended up with a couple of days of work plus a bunch of family time, etc.

Also on my list of things to do last week was voting in the federal elections. It was actually the first time I voted since, during the last election I was out of the country and too damn lazy to get a mail-in ballot.

So one of the parties called me the day before the election to tell me that I was voting at Seycove which suprised me because it was hardly the closest school. Anyway, off I went marching downhill to Seycove in the beautiful Vancouver rain trying to avoid getting the giant golf umbrella caught in the brambles and slogging through the mud. I arrived at Seycove only to be told that I was actually supposed to vote at Dorothy Lynus School, the complete opposite direction from Seycove.

So off I set again, soggy umbrella, mud splattered jeans, picture id tucked in my jacket pocket. I marched onwards and upwards determined to do my civic duty and what-have-you. Dodging school kids on their way to art class (I assume) I handed over my id and went to pick up my ballot. ‘Jillian?’ the election worker asked when I gave my last name.
‘No, Jaime.’ I answered, ‘Jillian is my mother.’
‘Oh, no problem. Is your Mom going to come and vote later.’ The dutiful election worker shuffled her bright yellow list.
‘No. Why is she on the electors list.’
‘Yep, she’s right here.’ And there she was, right below my name complete with the correct spelling, address, etc.
‘But she’s not Canadian.’
‘Oh, she must be if she’s on the list.’ The old election worker was trying to be polite but her message was clear…I can’t believe that elections Canada knows more about your mother than you do.

They don’t damn it!

Long story short, my local election chief is convinced that my Mother is an idiot who blindly handed her ID over to a stranger in a mall and swore that she was Canadian because, ‘She obviously didn’t understand what was going on. But don’t worry, she’s not going to go to jail unless she actually votes.’

My mother is not an idiot, she does not give picture ID to strangers in a mall, she knows she can’t vote and wasn’t remotely interested in breaking the law to do so. Something went wrong somewhere and no one cared (yep, they actually said that they weren’t concerned).

As a touch of irony, the same day Bert was walking the dog with someone who was complaining that he couldn’t vote because his Canadian citizenship ceremony was scheduled for the next day!?!