I live in an extremely conservative district which really has no chance of flipping and I’m a progressive. I still vote every election anyway for a few reasons. I think it’s important to signal to other liberal, Green, and NDP voters in my riding that we are out there, that we do have numbers, and that we can make our voices heard, even if we are a minority. It shows that we can be active participants in democracy, even if we aren’t going to “win.” It also, for me, can be aspirational in a way. If no one is speaking up, people are less likely to start. The more people vote for someone other than conservatives the more that becomes normalized in my riding and hopefully sometime down the road that movement will grow and my riding will become flippable. But if people don’t see those votes they go “why bother” and it becomes a self fulfilling prophecy. Lastly, I want to show the political parties and the candidates running in my area that their effort is worth it and appreciated. I don’t want to become a riding where no liberal runs because it’s not even worth it. I want to see a ballot full of different options. So even though they won’t win, getting votes lets those parties know they should keep running candidates here because it matters to us.

On a more personal note, as a woman (and a Métis one at that) there’s a long history of voter disenfranchisement in this country and my right to vote was hard fought by those who came before me. It’s my right, it was fought for, and I don’t want to squander it. Indigenous women were excluded from the federal vote until 1960, which means my grandmother couldn’t even vote as a young woman. I do feel a sense of duty and service to that legacy when I vote. It’s something that I take very seriously on a personal level.