Doug Ford is returning to Queen’s Park with a third straight majority government, after a sweeping victory in the election nobody wanted.

I say that nobody wanted it—and I know that’s a generalization—because let’s face it: it was called unnecessarily early, at a time when people are more focused on a looming federal election and our strained relationship with the US (plus, in the middle of winter when no one wants to stand in line to cast a ballot).

When I got to my polling station on election day, I was disheartened to see that I was the only one there. As it turns out, it wasn’t just that station. The results showed that voter turnout was embarrassingly low. Only about 45 per cent of eligible voters showed up—the second lowest turnout in Ontario’s history (that honour goes to 2022). Maybe the timing of the election explains that, but I don’t think it’s the only reason.

Let’s look back on 2021 when a snap federal election was called right in the middle of a global pandemic. As per Elections Canada, 62 per cent of Ontario voters found a way to cast their ballots then. It seems to me that the majority of Ontarians just care more about who sits in Ottawa than their own provincial government, which I will never understand when I consider the things we love to complain about most.

Healthcare is always a big one—hospital wait times, lack of family doctors, lack of mental health support are all big issues, but who is in charge of that? The province is.

Underfunding in education is a big issue right now, particularly in our colleges, and that also comes down to the provincial budget.

I often hear complaints about criminals being let out on bail again and again, cases being tossed out because our courts are so backlogged…again, the province can help that with more funding for Ontario courts.

Decisions made at Queen’s Park arguably affect our day-to-day lives far more directly than the decisions made on Parliament Hill. We need to start treating our Ontario elections with the same gravity as we treat the federal ones. When we engage in political conversations, let’s start talking about what our Premier is doing to either help or hinder our lives just as much as we talk ad nauseam about what the Prime Minister is doing. Try to recall Grade 10 Civics…learn who is responsible for the issues you care about. If you wait for 15 hours in an overcrowded emergency room, or your college is making cuts to your program, write to your member of provincial parliament instead of raging about the Prime Minister “ruining” the country. And—most importantly—just get out and vote!

If we don’t, we are not holding our provincial government to account for anything. Doug Ford says he has been given a historic third majority mandate, but that’s not true. When less than half the voters turn out, that’s not a mandate. But we Ontarians, in our apathy, have made it clear—we simply don’t care.