Businessmen and women, may we have your attention please

How effective is grassroots activism these days? With the recent Occupy Wall Street protests happening around the world, many allusions have been made to the past peace movements of the ‘60s and ‘70s. Yet criticism has run high due to the fact that many protesters don’t seem to have a purpose. Some are complaining about high tuition rates, homelessness and even the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, while others are just there for the barbecue and good time.
Barry Wilson, CTV Montreal executive producer, criticized the Occupy movement in his “Postscript” address this past week: “Sure, there is inequality, and the gap between rich and poor continues to grow,” he said. “But here’s the thing: change will not come from tent cities and slogans. If young people want change, they should try using their franchise. Get out and vote.”
And therein lies the problem. While proponents of the old establishment may chastise young citizens for their lack of participation in elections, it is no excuse for criticizing their democratic approach to the situation. Stale, antiquated rhetoric such as “get out and vote” does not seem to solve the problem.
I am a political science student. I have voted in every possible election that I have been eligible for since the age of 18, from voting for meaningless councillors in byelections, to setting an effective change in our riding from an established Liberal to a NDP candidate in the recent federal elections.
But what does someone’s vote mean when they voted for a loser? In short, a two dollar contribution to the party and a good luck, see you next time smile.
One of the bigger issues at hand is that the Canadian federal voting system needs reform. Take Australia for example: voting is compulsory, and they use a preferential voting system. In doing so, they rank candidates in order of likability, thus getting a much clearer picture of what the population sees as a fit candidate from their jurisdiction.
Skipping out the compulsory clause, this system, coupled with better proportional representation, would see a drastic improvement in election participation as Canadians would be encouraged to take part in something that actually means change and represents the public.
And that is essentially what the Occupy movement in Canada is all about: venting societal frustrations in a way that captures the attention of a generation whose social activity and democratic participation is limited to their Facebook feeds, trending topics on Twitter, and the latest gossip on TMZ. Despite having no effective leader or demands, they have captured the media’s attention, and that’s already huge progress towards making change happen.
Clearly more defined objectives would help spurn the cause to gain traction quicker, but to me, this protest in Victoria Square is really a metaphor for a great society: lots of people shouting a lot of things, hoping to bring out change through activism. It is rarely, if ever, the case when people on the couches lead a revolution.
Because changing your Facebook status to “I am the 99%” isn’t really effective.