Sum 41 members tell Ajax residents to vote, voter turnout looks even less promising
We suspect the whole categorical imperative logic is lost on the makers of a new video imploring Ajax residents to vote in the October election. After all, having pop punks and former NHLers telling people to fulfill their civic duty, in a city they barely have any ties to, is sort of like Robert Downey Jr. lecturing kids not to do drugs. But with a 23 per cent voter turnout in the 2006 municipal election (compared with Toronto’s 39 per cent), election officials need all the help they can get.
The video, shot by a shaky camera man, features such “celebrities” as Canadian Idol judge Farley Flex, CTV news anchor Ken Shaw, ex-Leafs backup goalie and hockey analyst Glenn Healy and a culminating cameo by Ajax homeboys and Sum 41 members Steve Jocz and Jason McCaslin. We don’t live in Ajax, but if we did, we’d consider not voting just because of this video. Who likes being yelled at about their civic duty for three minutes and 16 seconds? Reverse psychology would have been a better way to get people to the polls. (See: “5 Friends” video, U.S. election.) An even better way to get people engaged in civic politics: Ajax’s own version of Rob Ford.
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