** UPDATE MAY 3 2011 **  Yes the NDP got a happy ending but less influence in a majority parliament. Yes the Conservatives got their majority. Most Liberals got weepy, and Elizabeth May gets a chance to put her compost where her mouth is. The BQ, wow I didn't see that coming. Give the NPD kids a few years to get the hang of it, and let's see what happens on October 20, 2015. It surely will be a different world as history continues to repeat itself in new and unexpected ways. **

Choose your own adventure: Will Jack Layton get his happy ending? Can a man with a mustache be a Prime Minister? Will Stephen Harper get his benevolent neoliberalist dictatorship? Will Michael Ignatieff weep on the shoulder of a jubilant Justin Trudeau? Will the Green Party fight off the late charge from the Animal Alliance? Do you know where you should go to vote today? Tune in tonight as the voters of Vancouver Island North decide the future of the tarsands, the Afghanistan mission, and the whole direction of the nation, in one of the most fluid and anything-possible elections since 1993. And your vote will be the one single vote that gets us to that point.

I hope you've taken the time to learn about the candidates in your riding, but ignorance is no excuse. Healthy democracies rely on a variety of opinions and ignorant is a perfectly valid opinion. I can not and will not ask you to vote one way or another, I don't care who you vote for, I think this is a good time for you to participate. Young or old, aboriginal or immigrant, ignorant or know-it-all, it matters. It really really does. I cannot tell you why, as a result of my own ignorance about taking things seriously, but I really believe that sitting on your hands is bad for your back. So dig up that photo ID and proof of address, double check where to go to cast your vote (or if you have your act together, bring your voter registration card) and get on it!

xo, Doc Pickles