X Marks the Spot

PHOTO: The referendum ballot. Read it. Know it. Love it.

Referendum Fever is sweeping the province! People are screaming in anticipation of the chance to have their voices heard! Mothers and fathers are forgetting to feed their children because they're so engrossed in electoral reform literature. This is the biggest political lovefest since Trudeaumania!

Actually, it's not. Not at all. No one cares about the referendum. Only six, maybe seven, people actually know there is a referendum on Oct. 10.

That's one of the reasons I visited with Natasha DeSouza this morning. She's the referendum resource officer for Mississauga-Streetsville. Her job is to educate people about the referendum question. She didn't complain about it, but she has a frustrating and thankless job.

I know, in part, what she's going through. Never do I feel as frustrated and unthanked as I do when I'm writing about the referendum coming up on E-Day. I know no one's going to read the article. If the headline somehow tricks readers into committing to the article, by paragraph two their eyes will glaze over, and if they somehow make it to paragraph five, rigor mortis sets in.

I have a hard time understanding why. I find the referendum question fascinating. I think it's a chance for a serious and deep debate about how we are represented in government. Just try to bring it up at a bar on a Friday night, though - people will keep so much distance from you you'd think your breath smelled like burnt hair.

I really think Elections Ontario should hire Jessica Alba and Brad Pitt, put them in bathing suits, and shoot them as stars in referendum information commercials. Have them posing for brochures and posters, too.

It really is the only way people will pay attention.

To learn about the referendum, and to watch the seven-part instructional video, visit www.yourbigdecision.ca.

For my initial thoughts on the upcoming referendum, visit my three-part blog series Let the Headaches Begin - Part One, Part Two, Part Three