The Election is Over — What Now?

It’s easy to forget, in the roar of election rhetoric and the wreckage of campaign spin, that politics is not the country.

Parties change. Leaders rise and fall. Platforms shift. But Canada — your home — remains ours to shape.

And if you woke up the morning after the election feeling betrayed, bitter, or just plain numb, let me tell you:
Those emotions are not signs of disengagement.
They are signs that you still care — that you haven’t given up.

So many Canadians are politically homeless right now.
Not because they’re apathetic — but because they’re paying attention.
They’ve watched parties make promises they never intended to keep.
They’ve seen urban centers get all the perks while rural communities are ignored.
They’ve seen vote-rich provinces dominate policy while the rest of the country waits in the wings.

And yet… we keep showing up.
We vote.
We argue.
We organize.
We hold hope in one hand and disillusionment in the other.

That is what democracy looks like — not perfection, but persistence.

You may not love who’s in power right now.
But whether you marked your ballot red, blue, orange, green, purple, or just spoiled it out of protest — this is still your country.
And your right — your responsibility — to shape its future didn’t end when you dropped your ballot in a box. It began.

Because democracy isn’t a game you lose.
It’s a house you live in.
And when something’s broken? You don’t burn it down.
You fix the damn foundation.

So don’t withdraw. Don’t “wait and see.” Don’t let your silence get mistaken for satisfaction.
Speak louder. Show up more. Get in the way.

Because if the people in power aren’t hearing you, you’re not yelling loud enough yet.

For all our talk about democracy, fairness, and unity, Canada’s federal electoral system is structurally rigged to favour population centers, marginalize regional voices, and distort the will of voters.

We use first-past-the-post (FPTP) — a system so outdated that most modern democracies have abandoned it or heavily modified it. And for good reason.

Here’s what it means in practice:

• You can win 100% of the power with just 35–40% of the vote

• A party can earn millions of votes and walk away with almost no seats

• Entire provinces can vote overwhelmingly for one party and get nothing in return

Sound familiar?

In the 2025 election, like the ones before it, the results were practically decided before a single vote was counted west of Ontario.
And that’s not just frustrating — it’s undemocratic.

In Canada, your vote doesn’t go to a national total — it goes to whoever wins your local riding.
If your candidate loses, your vote disappears from the national outcome.
There is no reward for second place, no proportional representation, and no seat for popular vote unless it directly translates to riding wins.

That’s why in 2025:

• The Liberal Party could secure a majority of seats with less than 40% of the vote

• The Green Party, with a measurable national presence, might win 1 or 2 seats — despite hundreds of thousands of votes

• Small parties like the PPC, Mavericks, or regional independents have zero path to influence without media manipulation, controversy, or scandal-driven attention

It’s a system that rewards consolidation, punishes nuance, and shuts out diversity of thought.

And Then There’s Regional Imbalance

Every election, the same refrain echoes across the Prairies and the North:

“Why even bother voting? Ontario and Quebec will decide it anyway.”

And they’re not wrong.

Ontario and Quebec hold 199 out of 338 seats — nearly 60% of Parliament.
So unless there’s a massive political shift in those two provinces, the rest of the country is just watching the score from the bleachers.

Meanwhile:

• Alberta (population ~4.6M) has 34 seats

• Saskatchewan (population ~1.2M) has 14

• Atlantic Canada, despite significant geographic and cultural uniqueness, is often reduced to a swing-bloc afterthought

And the territories, home to Indigenous voices and some of the most vulnerable communities in the country? Three seats. Total.
That’s less representation than the city of Mississauga.

The Consequences Are Real

This isn’t just about optics — it affects lives.

• Policies skew toward vote-rich urban centers

• Resource industries are vilified or mismanaged by distant governments

• Housing, healthcare, energy, and taxation policy get tailored to swing ridings, not national equity

• Regional alienation festers, fueling movements like WEXIT, Northern sovereignty pushes, and widespread civic apathy

And the worst part?

Parties have no incentive to fix this.
They win under this system. So they defend it.
And we — the voters — are left to decide between strategic voting or surrender.

This isn’t a fringe issue.
It’s not just political theory or constitutional trivia.
It’s the reason millions of Canadians feel unheard — and are unheard.

If we want a better country, we need a better system.
And that means recognizing that the problem isn’t who’s in power —
It’s how they got it.

“But that’s not how democracy works!”

Actually, it is — in most of the democratic world.
Germany, New Zealand, Scotland, Ireland, Norway — all use some form of proportional representation. And guess what? Their voter turnout is higher, their political polarization is lower, and they’ve managed to avoid the kind of regional resentment that now defines Canada’s West-East dynamic.

“Smaller provinces shouldn’t get equal seats.”

If we’re a true federation, then every province matters — not just in economic output, but in governance.
This isn’t about population — it’s about political balance.
If we want to keep the country united, we need to give every region a reason to stay engaged.

“But Isn’t This Too Complicated?”

Electoral reform always gets dismissed as “too messy,” “too confusing,” or “too idealistic.” But most of that fear comes from people who benefit from the status quo — not the public.

Here’s the truth:

• We already run complicated tax systems, health care programs, and electoral boundaries.

• Germany, New Zealand, Ireland, and many others already use proportional systems with better results and higher voter trust.

• And yes, it might take an extra five minutes to explain. But we should never let simplicity trump fairness when designing the rules of democracy.

The greater danger isn’t a more complex ballot — it’s keeping a system that actively discourages people from voting at all

There is no perfect system.
But there are better ones.
And pretending that our current model is “good enough” is how you lose public trust, decade by decade.

The 18+8 model may not be the final answer — but it’s a powerful conversation starter.
And it reflects what millions of Canadians already feel:

Representation shouldn’t depend on your postal code.

If we want a country that works for all of us, then the system that governs it needs to represent all of us.

It’s time.

This election wasn’t the end of the story. It was the beginning of the next chapter.
And what happens now — in our cities, our ridings, our school boards, our inboxes — will determine whether Canada remains a country governed by its people, or one run over them.

If you’re tired of the lies, the manipulation, and the rigged math — you’re not alone.
But if we don’t act, nothing changes.

So let’s show up. Let’s push back. Let’s rebuild the democracy we thought we had.

Canada needs more than new politicians. It needs a new way of being heard.

And that starts now.

This isn’t the part where we say, “Well, maybe next time.”
This is the part where we build the pressure cooker — and keep the heat on until things change.

If you’re frustrated, disappointed, or fired up — good. Now channel it.

✅ 1. Track Promises — Then Demand Action

Most campaign promises are made to be forgotten.
Unless we remind them, loudly and repeatedly, what they said they’d do.

Here’s how to keep receipts:

• Download the 2025 Liberal platform and highlight every promise that affects you — housing, healthcare, climate, cost of living.

• Bookmark your MP’s voting record on OpenParliament.ca, PoliMonitor.ca, or TheyWorkForYou.ca.

• Set a calendar reminder 12–18 months from now with the subject line:
  “Hey, did they deliver?”

When campaign promises quietly disappear from the spotlight — drag them back.

Ask publicly.
Tag them.
Write in.
Call local media.
Hold receipts and raise hell.

✅ 2. Write Your MP (Even If You Didn’t Vote for Them)

MPs represent everyone in their riding — not just their voter base.
So use that.

Here’s what to say:

Subject: Electoral Reform & Representation Fairness

Message Template:

“I’m a constituent in your riding. I believe Canada’s electoral system is failing to represent all voices fairly. I’d like to know where you stand on proportional representation and regional seat equality. Do you support a national dialogue or legislation to fix this system in the next four years?”

Short. Clear. Direct.

If they don’t respond?
Screenshot the silence. Post it. Tag them.
Because accountability isn’t aggression — it’s democracy.

📍 Find your MP here

✅ 3. Join or Start a Reform Movement

You’re not alone.
Organizations across Canada are already pushing for this — they just need more voices, more volume, and more visibility.

Start with:

• Fair Vote Canada — experts on proportional representation

• Unlock Democracy Canada — citizen-led action

• Democracy Watch — legal watchdogs with bite

Not a joiner? Start small.

• Host a “What is Electoral Reform?” night with your friends

• Create a local civic Discord/WhatsApp group

• Write a letter to your local paper — or submit a guest op-ed

This fight doesn’t belong to politicians.
It belongs to you.

✅ 4. Demand Representation Reform — Not Just Another Party Swap

Parties will always promise better outcomes — but if the system stays broken, the results will too.

Demand:

• Equal provincial seat allocation

• Mixed-member proportional ballots

• Threshold representation for smaller parties

• Citizen assemblies to guide reform

Ask every candidate running municipally or provincially:

“Do you support federal electoral reform?”

Don’t just ask the big names. Ask the independents, the fringe voices, the city councillors.
Normalize the conversation.

Final Rally Point

You’ve got four years.

Four years to:

• Educate

• Agitate

• Organize

• Demand

If we spend it doomscrolling, ranting in echo chambers, or waiting for someone else to fix it,
we’ll be here again in 2029 — angrier, more divided, and just as powerless.

So start now.

Be loud.
Be smart.
Be relentless.

Because nothing changes if we don’t push.
And no one in Ottawa reforms a system that keeps them winning — unless we make them.

It’s easy — so, so easy — to fall into the trap of thinking democracy is something we have rather than something we do.
As if it’s a permanent trophy in a glass case somewhere, immune to dust, decay, or theft.

But the truth is far less comforting:

Democracy is not a guarantee. It’s an agreement.
And agreements have to be renewed — actively, fiercely, constantly.

Every time we show up.
Every time we speak out.
Every time we refuse to be gaslit into thinking “this is just how it works.”

That’s when democracy is real.
Not when we vote every few years. Not when we scream into Twitter voids.
But when we recognize that between elections is where citizenship lives.

Because Here’s the Hard Truth:

If we disengage — they win.
If we settle for less — they deliver less.
If we allow cynicism to harden into apathy — the system doesn’t correct itself. It calcifies.

And slowly, quietly, the walls close in.

Maybe not with jackboots and flags.
Maybe just with shrugging, smaller choices:

• Less transparency here.

• More executive power there.

• A few fewer rights for “efficiency.”

• A little less fairness “because tradition.”

Until one day you wake up and realize the democracy you thought you lived in is just a memory you’re nostalgic for — not a reality you can touch.

Democracy Isn’t Self-Cleaning

It’s messy.
It’s imperfect.
It’s aggravating.
And it is absolutely worth the fight.

Not because politicians deserve it.
But because we do.

We deserve:

• A system where every vote counts.

• A government that fears its citizens more than it fears losing its base.

• A future where regional alienation isn’t treated as a political inevitability but a solvable injustice.

Final Call:

This isn’t just about 2025.
It’s about 2029. 2033. 2045.
It’s about the country your kids — or your neighbour’s kids — will inherit.

And whether they’ll inherit a real democracy, or just the word for it.

Because if we want a country that reflects all of us, it’s not enough to criticize what’s broken.

We have to be the ones who fix it.

Not someday.
Not when it’s easier.
Not when it’s less messy.
Now.

The election is over. The anger is real. The disillusionment is justified.
But none of it matters unless we turn it into action.

Democracy isn’t dead. It’s just waiting.

Waiting for us to remember:

“Democracy isn’t dead.
It’s just waiting for you to remember you’re in charge.”